The way the light filtered through the trees on the morning drive was unbeatable, he said.
The Forest Service people have been super, super happy to have us, Zampaglione said.
Theyre always saying, Without you guys, this would have taken months.
Conservationists at work.© American Climate Corps
Then he saw an ad on YouTube for the Forest Corps and applied through the AmeriCorps site.
The people who were responsible for coordinating it have left office or are leaving office.
Before they go, they are shutting it all down.
Think of it as a precautionary step.
Thats in part because the Climate Corps isnt exactly the government jobs program people think it is.
Take away the American Climate Corps, and little changes.
The jobs survive, even if the branding doesnt.
People say its the American Climate Corps, but like, what does that mean?
There isnt really any meat on those bones.
Some of the jobs roped into the American Climate Corps have funding locked down for much of Trumps term.
The American Climate Corps was supposed to be a New Deal-era program brought back to life.
Young activists were enthusiastic about the possibility.
Then, that September, the Biden administrationsurprise-announced that the American Climate Corps was happeningafter all but scaled back.
And they were like, Well, of course its hot.
Thats why we want it, because thats who were trying to market this to.
Even though the Climate Corps didnt get any help from Congress, it found resources in other places.
Since the jobs werent centralized,term limits and pay were all over the place.
Nonetheless, the first cohort wassworn in virtuallyin June 2024.
The positions just came with a new label.
Even some of the jobs that were new cant be attributed directly to the Climate Corps.
Funded by the Forest Service, 80 Forest Corps members started their terms last July.
That fund, in turn, is supported by AmeriCorps andphilanthropic donors.
The state level, Godfried said, is where the action is.
Yet the American Climate Corps is what gets peoples attention.
When the White House does something, everyone wants to report on it, he said.
The Forest Corps, for example, got 800 applications for just 80 positions, according to Goodson.
The effects of Trumps presidency could also trickle down to the state-level climate corps.
In our current political climate, it just has sort of been collateral damage, Parker said.
The irony is that the work that the American Climate Corps promised is needed more than ever.
We need communities to be prepared and capable of responding.
And service corps programs are a wonderful way to do that.
This article originally appeared inGristathttps://grist.org/politics/american-climate-corps-biden-jobs-program-trump/.
Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
Correction: This story originally misidentified the year Climate Corps members were sworn in.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
