CNN
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President Joe Biden visited the Triangle, Virginia, on Monday to commemorate Earth Day, unveiling $7 billion in subsidies for solar power under the Inflation Control Act and coordinating his administration’s American Climate Corps, a youth climate organization. announced new measures to get the popular program off the ground.
The announcement comes days after the Biden administration made several major conservation announcements, including a ban on oil drilling on nearly half of Alaska’s national oil reserves.
Biden touted his climate change and clean energy record against the backdrop of Virginia’s green trees. He said the climate crisis was an “existential threat” that required “full and clear action”.
“As president, I’ve seen firsthand the devastation caused by climate change,” Biden said of wildfires, extreme weather, and extreme heat. “Despite the overwhelming devastation occurring in red and blue states, there are still those who deny that we are in a climate crisis. They want to set us back. is determined – absolutely determined [that] we move forward. ”
Under the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Solar for All” program, the Environmental Protection Agency works with state territories, The agency announced funding to tribal governments, local governments and nonprofit organizations, the EPA deputy administrator said. Janet McCabe told reporters on a phone call Friday.
McCabe said the funding will allow about 1 million households in low-income and disadvantaged communities to benefit from solar power, reducing overburdened electricity bills by more than $350 million a year. Over the course of the program, households will save more than $8 billion.
Biden also announced new actions regarding the federal Climate Corps. It is a workforce training and outreach initiative designed to prepare America’s youth for jobs in clean energy and climate resiliency. The government plans to ease the transition for Climate Force members to other federal jobs after they graduate from the program.
Biden said service programs like the Climate Corps “unlock the full potential of young people to do what’s best for America.”
“You’ll get paid to fight climate change by learning how to install solar panels, fight wildfires, rebuild wetlands, weatherize your homes and more,” Biden added.
He also announced a new partnership between his administration and Trades Futures, the nonprofit arm of the Building Trades Union of North America, to give Climate Corps members access to some of the union’s apprenticeship programs. did.
He also touted the announcements by Vermont, New Mexico and Illinois to create their own state-based climate change units. The Climate Corps program will employ people to build renewable energy such as wind and solar, as well as work in conservation.
Mr. Biden and other progressive lawmakers, including Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, are former presidents of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He spoke at Prince William Forest Park in Virginia, which was developed by the Conservation Corps. It is modeled after the US Climate Change Corps.
“In the midst of a recession, President Roosevelt called on Americans to come together, meet challenges, and unlock the opportunities hidden within them: opportunities to heal, lift people, and move America forward. The White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said Friday: “President Biden is committed to uniting us on how America is fully represented in the face of the climate crisis to Americans in communities across the country. It is also an opportunity to do so.”
