How to apply for a job in the American Climate Corps

The Biden administration announced its plans to expand its New Deal-style American Climate Corps (ACC) green jobs training program last week. 

Nearly 2,000 corps positions opened up across 36 states, including jobs in partnership with the North American Building Trades Unions.

In September, the administration announced an executive action to create the  American Climate Corps program. According to the White House, the program is a federal effort “to ensure more young people have access to the skills-based training necessary for good-paying careers in the clean energy and climate resilience economy.”

Those who enroll in the program will learn how to install solar panels, restore coastal wetlands, retrofit homes to be more energy-efficient, fight wildfires, and more. The program also intends to create a pipeline for these young people to get hired into the clean energy sector, which is expected to add millions jobs by 2030, due in large part to the Inflation Reduction Act. 

Interested in joining? Here’s a how-to. 

How to apply

As of April 22, Americans can now apply to join the American Climate Corps through the venture’s new website: ClimateCorps.gov. 

At the top of the homepage, there’s a button that’s labeled “Join.” You’ll be guided to a page with the available job listings. After the site’s launch, applications came in swiftly and there are currently only 270 open positions across the country. 

Compensation for these positions vary, but many of them start at $15 per hour and provide education benefits, as well as mental and behavioral health benefits. Some of them even provide child care.

In Pennsylvania, there are three available positions. You can apply to be an Urban Forestry Fellow with the Urban Forestry Academy, for example, where you’ll be responsible for all things trees: chainsaw operation and maintenance, chipper operation, tree felling, climbing, plant anatomy and identification, and more. You can also apply to be a solar panel installation intern in Philadelphia, or Green Stormwater Infrastructure Fellow, where you’ll work with the Philadelphia Water Department to help them complete routine maintenance. 

All of these positions require that you have at least a high school diploma or GED, and have the ability to lift up to 50 pounds. To learn about the other requirements, click here. 

The application deadline for these three positions is July 1.

Looking forward

Michael D. Smith, the CEO of AmeriCorps, told The American Prospect that the American Climate Corps is “an opportunity to turn anxiety into action.” 

“We’ve heard a lot from young Americans about climate anxiety,” Smith said. “It’s been heartbreaking to hear young people say, ‘This is overwhelming. I don’t know what to do, I don’t know if I want to bring children into this world.’”

Smith said that the ACC gives young people “a way to not wait for somebody else to do something.” He said the program lets them “jump in the arena right now to make a difference on an issue that is bigger than all of us.”

Smith added that the ACC intends to go beyond “one-and-done” projects, as well. The goal of these “term” positions, which all range from 300 hours to a full year, is to develop “real marketable skills that [lead] into a career path right away.” 

Ultimately, the ACC aims to train 20,000 young people for jobs focused on fighting climate change.

The first set of jobs will start in June.