In commemoration of Climate Week NYC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and AmeriCorps announced the Environmental Justice Climate Corps. This is a new partnership launched as part of President Biden’s American Climate Corps “to open doors for people to serve in careers that benefit disadvantaged and other low-income communities.” It also reaffirms the Administration’s commitment to creating pathways to middle class jobs and is a step to implementing the Biden-Harris Administration’s Executive Order to Promote Good Jobs by supporting workforce development through the American Climate Corps.*
“Our partnership is a first-of-its-kind effort within the federal government to expand pathways into environmental justice careers,” said Michael S. Regan, EPA Administrator. “This program will create opportunities for young people through President Biden’s American Climate Corps that will help folks in overburdened communities access and benefit from historic funding secured under the President’s Investing in America agenda.”
Environmental Justice Climate Corps members will be paid a living allowance and reimbursed for selected living expenses. In total, this allowance is equivalent to receiving more than $25 per hour throughout their year of service. Members will obtain the benefits of AmeriCorps VISTA service—including the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, which is valued at $7395 in FY24, and streamlined pathways into certain federal jobs, as well as gain mentorship and professional development opportunities. This program aims to recruit participants from communities disproportionately impacted by environmental justice challenges and seeks to recruit individuals with an interest in environmental justice careers.
“Low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the most severe harms of climate change – whether that’s air pollution, extreme temperatures, or flooding,” said Michael D. Smith, CEO, AmeriCorps. “Through this groundbreaking partnership with EPA, we will target resources to underserved communities where they are needed most, while putting hundreds of young people from those communities on a path to environmental justice careers.”
*The Environmental Justice Climate Corps is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s American Climate Corps—a workforce training and service initiative that will ensure more young people have access to the skills-based training necessary for good-paying careers in the clean energy and climate resilience economy. The American Climate Corps will mobilize a new, diverse generation of more than 20,000 Americans in the initiative’s first year, putting them to work conserving and restoring our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, deploying clean energy, implementing energy efficient technologies, and advancing environmental justice—all while creating pathways to high-quality, good-paying clean energy and climate resilience jobs in the public and private sectors after they complete their paid training program.
Applications for the Environmental Justice Climate Corps will open in early 2025, with a goal for its first cohort to start later that year. To sign up for updates on the program, go to EPA’s website.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Environmental Justice Climate Corps Launches
In commemoration of Climate Week NYC, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and AmeriCorps announced the Environmental Justice Climate Corps. This is a new partnership launched as part of President Biden’s American Climate Corps “to open doors for people to serve in careers that benefit disadvantaged and other low-income communities.” It also reaffirms the Administration’s commitment to creating pathways to middle class jobs and is a step to implementing the Biden-Harris Administration’s Executive Order to Promote Good Jobs by supporting workforce development through the American Climate Corps.*
“Our partnership is a first-of-its-kind effort within the federal government to expand pathways into environmental justice careers,” said Michael S. Regan, EPA Administrator. “This program will create opportunities for young people through President Biden’s American Climate Corps that will help folks in overburdened communities access and benefit from historic funding secured under the President’s Investing in America agenda.”
Environmental Justice Climate Corps members will be paid a living allowance and reimbursed for selected living expenses. In total, this allowance is equivalent to receiving more than $25 per hour throughout their year of service. Members will obtain the benefits of AmeriCorps VISTA service—including the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, which is valued at $7395 in FY24, and streamlined pathways into certain federal jobs, as well as gain mentorship and professional development opportunities. This program aims to recruit participants from communities disproportionately impacted by environmental justice challenges and seeks to recruit individuals with an interest in environmental justice careers.
“Low-income communities and communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the most severe harms of climate change – whether that’s air pollution, extreme temperatures, or flooding,” said Michael D. Smith, CEO, AmeriCorps. “Through this groundbreaking partnership with EPA, we will target resources to underserved communities where they are needed most, while putting hundreds of young people from those communities on a path to environmental justice careers.”
*The Environmental Justice Climate Corps is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s American Climate Corps—a workforce training and service initiative that will ensure more young people have access to the skills-based training necessary for good-paying careers in the clean energy and climate resilience economy. The American Climate Corps will mobilize a new, diverse generation of more than 20,000 Americans in the initiative’s first year, putting them to work conserving and restoring our lands and waters, bolstering community resilience, deploying clean energy, implementing energy efficient technologies, and advancing environmental justice—all while creating pathways to high-quality, good-paying clean energy and climate resilience jobs in the public and private sectors after they complete their paid training program.
Applications for the Environmental Justice Climate Corps will open in early 2025, with a goal for its first cohort to start later that year. To sign up for updates on the program, go to EPA’s website.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.