From our collaborating partner “Living on Earth,” public radio’s environmental news magazine, an interview by producer Aynsley O’Neill with Maggie Thomas, the special assistant to the president for climate in the White House. At an Earth Day event in Virginia just outside of Washington, D.C. this week, President Biden announced the official start of his new climate-focused jobs program. “It’s patterned after the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps. Like them, it brings out the best in young people to do what’s best for America,” Biden said at the event. “We will put tens of thousands of young people to work at the forefront of our climate resilience and energy future, clean energy future. Today, I’m proud to announce that Americans across the country can now apply to become the first members of the American Climate Corps.” All kinds of skills and industries are needed to address the climate crisis, so the jobs board for the Corps lists everything from community outreach to biological surveys to invasive species removal. Maggie Thomas is special assistant to the president on climate. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. AYNSLEY O’NEILL: The website is now live for the American Climate Corps. Walk me through the history of this program. How did we get to this point? MAGGIE THOMAS: One of the most exciting parts about President Biden’s American Climate Corps is really that it harkens back to as early as the 1930s, when President Roosevelt originally launched the Civilian Conservation Corps, or the CCC. FDR launched this program to put millions of young men to work, with the idea that our economic crisis at the time, and the environmental crisis and the crisis of the Dust Bowl, were intertwined - they were one in the same. Through a public works program, the CCC ultimately became one of the New Deal’s most popular programs. Please take a... |