Rep. Neguse Applauds Creation of Federally Coordinated American Climate Corps

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Joe Neguse issued the following statement celebrating the announcement that President Biden will take Executive Action to create a American Climate Corps: 

“Since first being elected to Congress, I have proudly championed legislation creating a new 21st century Civilian Climate Corps. One that will work for our generation, while taking inspiration from the program responsible for creating wonders across my home state of Colorado—from the Red Rocks Amphitheater to the countless roads, trails, and campgrounds in Rocky Mountain National Park.”

“Today, I join Coloradans and communities across the country in applauding the Biden-Harris Administration's decision to mobilize Americans in response to the climate crisis, creating a twenty-first century climate-focused workforce that will prepare a new era of workers for good paying jobs in a clean economy.” 

Earlier this week, Congressman Joe Neguse, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee of Federal Lands, joined Senator Edward J. Markey (D-MA), and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), along with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Representatives Judy Chu (D-CA) in a letter to President Biden urging him to take immediate action, utilizing existing authority, to establish a federally coordinated Climate Corps initiative. 

Background

Representative Neguse has been a staunch advocate of legislation to create a re-imagined 21st Century Conservation Corps. In both the 116th and 117th Congress, Rep. Neguse introduced the 21st Century Conservation Corps Act, a bill to create better paying jobs, tackle western wildfires, restore our lands and communities, and address climate change through the creation of a Conservation Corps. 

The plan would take a page out of FDR's New Deal program to recreate the corps of the 1930s, which built Red Rocks, roads, trails and campgrounds in Rocky Mountain National Park and supported other projects throughout Colorado. Congressman Neguse's proposed 21st Century Civilian Climate Corps would reimagine this program, put hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work, and make major investments in wildfire resiliency, mitigation, and adaptation. The plan additionally would support Colorado's outdoor recreation industry and address outdoor access by investing in the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Program and Every Kid Outdoors Program.

Given record-breaking wildfires across Colorado, including the Marshall Fire in 2021 and the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome Fires in 2020, three of the largest and most destructive in state history, historic investments to address future wildfires are crucial. The proposal from Congressman Neguse would invest in programs that have previously benefited Colorado's wildfire suppression efforts, such as the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program and Firewise, and would hire and train a new generation of workers to support forest management, wildland fire suppression and wildfire recovery.

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