July 28th, 2021

New Mexico Democrats call on Congress to fund climate change jobs in federal budget bill

Jobs aimed at addressing climate change would be funded if calls from New Mexico’s congressional Democrats and a coalition of lawmakers are heeded.

All four of New Mexico’s Democrat in Congress signed onto a letter to their party’s leadership demanding funds for a Civilian Climate Corps be included the reconciliation deal as lawmakers debate the federal budget.

U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan along with U.S. Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez and Melanie Stansbury argued in a joint statement that the proposal would allow Americans to join in a national service to mitigate environment concerns and provide a boost to the nation’s economy.

Establishing a Civilian Climate Corps will provide national service opportunities to a new generation and help power our economic recovery,” read the statement. “Let's make national service a central part of every plan for change.”

The letter, signed by 80 Democrats from the Senate and House asserted the Civilian Climate Corps would prioritize investing in climate change solutions including renewable energy projects, setting labor standards such as wages and healthcare coverage, while offering opportunities to “diverse” communities like recipients of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program along with refugees and other minority groups.

The lawmakers also asked the program be implemented through AmeriCorps and other national, state and local service organizations while including funding for programs in the Departments of Interior, Agriculture and Commerce while providing workers to meet climate change goals.

Both President Joe Biden and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, herself a former New Mexico U.S. representative, signaled support for the Civilian Climate Corps this year, but the lawmakers argued the recent budget bill was the time to fund such a program.

Biden included the program in his American Jobs Plan and Fiscal Year 2022 budget request, and the Democrats called on their party to work to keep it in the bill.

“Congress must ensure these bold plans are brought to fruition by passing ambitious legislation that harnesses the enthusiasm Americans feel for the Civilian Climate Corps,” the letter read.

Democrats voiced concern that climate change was worsening, pointing to 22 weather events and climate disasters costing $1 billion or more in 2020, compared with the previous record of 16 such events.

2020 was also the worst wildfire season on records, the letter read, burning 10.2 million acres which cost $16 billion in damages and $3 billion in costs associated with fighting the fires.

About half of the U.S. was experiencing an historic drought, read the letter, a trend the lawmakers contended was driven by climate change from human actions.

The Civilian Climate Corps could not only address dire changes in weather patterns, but also address rising unemployment from the COVID-19 pandemic, the letter read.

“At the intersection of the COVID-19 pandemic unemployment crisis and the impacts of a warming climate, we have a historic opportunity to make bold investments in our public lands, clean energy, and climate resiliency, all while creating good-paying jobs, building a diverse workforce, and strengthening career pathways,” read the letter.

The Civilian Climate Corps would be modeled after Civilian Conservation Corps, a program created under the administration of former-President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933 as part of his New Deal.

The program employed those out of work during the Great Depression to work on environmental projects, planting 3 billion trees and constructing trails and shelters in more than 800 parks across the country in its nine years of operation.

They also fought forest fires, reseeded grazing land and addressed soil erosion in mostly western states like New Mexico and Arizona.

By July 1, 1933, the program created 1,433 working camps and put 300,000 men to work, known as the fastest peacetime mobilization in American history and growing to 500,000 workers by its peak in August 1935 before it ended to divert resources to World War II in 1942, per a report from the History Channel.

“Today’s programs include both opportunities for a residential, team-based experience modeled on the twentieth-century Civilian Conservation Corps and partnerships with nonprofit and community-based organizations,” the Democrats’ letter read.

“In standing up the Civilian Climate Corps, we will build on that legacy and existing infrastructure, provide robust economic and educational opportunity, and promote inclusive and equitable Corps.”

During her confirmation hearing in February, Haaland said the Corps could advance the Biden administration’s environmental agenda while creating jobs.

“The president’s agenda demonstrates that America’s public lands can and should be engines for clean energy production,” she said per a transcript of Haaland’s opening remarks. “President Biden also knows that restoring and conserving our lands through a Civilian Climate Corps has the potential to spur job creation.”

By: Adrian Hedden

Source: Carlsbad Current-Argus