NC launches Climate Action Corps same day as Biden announces national effort
North Carolina on Wednesday launched its Climate Action Corps, a new service effort that will station 25 people across the state to work on projects intended to boost resiliency against climate-fueled disasters
The N.C. Climate Action Corps will collaborate with the American Climate Corps, which President Joe Biden announced Wednesday. Both announcements come amid Climate Week.
An announcement from Gov. Roy Cooper’s office listed a number of projects on which Climate Action Corps members could serve. Those include planting trees to address urban heat islands, helping build living shorelines to protect communities against storm surge, and building community gardens, among other projects.
“In North Carolina, we have prioritized the transition to clean energy and this expansion will bolster our efforts. This project will strengthen our clean energy workforce as we continue to lead the way toward a clean energy future,” Cooper said in a written statement.
The N.C. Corps will operate through the N.C. Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service. It is being launched in partnership with California Volunteers, a California government program that is aiming to turn its climate corps into a national effort.
North Carolina was one of five states that launched a climate corps on Wednesday, coinciding with Biden’s announcement. The others were Arizona, Maryland, Minnesota and Utah.
With the announcement, North Carolina became one of 10 states with a climate corps.
Service members will work in communities that do not have existing AmeriCorps programs and that are suffering from the impacts of climate change, according to the program’s website.
Those serving full time will earn $30,000 and will be eligible for a scholarship at the end of their service, according to an announcement from California Volunteers.
Funding for the state-level programs is being provided through private philanthropy and AmeriCorps, according to California Volunteers’ announcement.
During his 2020 presidential campaign, Biden discussed starting a Civilian Climate Corps. Those efforts were ultimately stymied.
Wednesday, though, Biden signed an executive order launching the new corps that is in many ways modeled after the New Deal’s Civilian Conservation Corps, a Depression-era work relief program that saw young men scatter across the country to work on the nation’s public lands.
According to the White House, the new federal program will see 20,000 young people work on projects like installing energy efficiency items, restoring coastal wetlands and managing forests to prevent wildfires from turning catastrophic.
This story was produced with financial support from the Hartfield Foundation and the 1Earth Fund, in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners, as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work.