The American Climate Corps is a Strong Start, But More Can be Done

The American Climate Corps (ACC), a groundbreaking federal training and service initiative to fight climate change, is making headlines as the first 9,000 participants were recently sworn in, with at least 11,000 more expected to join during the program’s inaugural year.

I see a great opportunity inherent in the program, but more is needed to realize its potential.  
 
As context, the ACC brings together – and taps existing funding – at the Labor, Interior, Agriculture and Energy Departments, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and AmeriCorps. Participants take a pledge written by author and environmentalist, Barbara Kingsolver, vowing to work “on behalf of our nation and planet, its people and all its species, for the better future we hold within our sight.”  

It’s an inspiring development, but climate-related challenges aren’t the domain of the federal government alone. To build truly Future Ready®, resilient communities, we need faster and more coordinated action at all levels of government, together with the nonprofit and private sectors. 

True, this is part of a partnership with the construction-oriented TradesFutures. Yet, as a leader at WSP, one of the world’s oldest and largest engineering, environment and professional services firms, every day I see how the skills gap slows progress on forward-looking plans of many kinds. 

While the ACC is a great step forward, the U.S. Department of Education reports that in the coming years, there will be 68 percent more job openings in infrastructure-related fields than there are people training to fill those roles. Many of these roles advance sustainability goals and have resilience built into project design, but the country doesn’t have enough people to achieve those sustainability objectives. 

To bolster the workforce, we need a multi-pronged effort, including:  

Greater efforts to interest youth in AEC careers.

As the Biden Administration noted in announcing the ACC, these are relatively stable, good paying jobs. It’s also key to foster greater interest in architecture, planning and other parts of the architecture-engineering-construction (AEC) industry among Gen Z, who collectively aspire to jobs as influencers, not engineers.

Highlighting the sustainability dimensions of work in the AEC industry can help shift perceptions among the more than 40 percent of young people who would switch jobs over climate concerns — including the one-in-six who already have. 

Increased investment in education.

Over the years, I’ve seen countless promises to improve STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and vocational education; yet according to the Association for Career and Technical Education, in FY 2023, federal funding for career and technical education was $1.46 billion, significantly below the inflation-adjusted level from 20 years ago.

Educational investment also can help keep pace with the industry’s rapid evolution in everything from digital to green practices. One suggestion would be to align the ACC with the Green Skills Passport program developed by Microsoft and EY, which similarly targets youth with a free online course that covers “sustainability, entrepreneurship and employability skills.”  

Action to forge a talent pipeline that connects ACC participants to private industry.

By giving young professionals hands-on learning and work opportunities, the ACC is meeting immediate talent needs within federal agencies, while also building a future workforce that can benefit both the public and private sector.

As a next step, I hope to see deliberate efforts to directly connect ACC graduates to career opportunities in the private sector, where they are needed to accelerate renewable energy and a more reliable grid, build more sustainable infrastructure and advance nature-based solutions to promote resilience in the face of increased disasters.  

4. A focus on environmental justice and “energy communities.”

We need more than skilled workers. We also need to consider the importance of equity when developing strategies to attract workers to communities to address a particular need.

It’s promising that the White House will place ACC members in former coal-mining towns to help with environmental remediation and the energy transition. We also need investment that brings long-term private sector jobs, which will encourage workers to stay.  

These steps – and many more – are essential if we hope to design and construct the sustainable infrastructure necessary for all communities to thrive.  

Alice Lovegrove is senior vice president and director of the Sustainable Infrastructure Group at WSP in the U.S.