Washington, DC
September 24, 2024
First, I do want to thank Yasmeen for your leadership at this historic moment of creating this really, you know, army of warriors for the climate across the country. It's really an honor to work alongside you. When we say whole of government, what we really mean is everybody working together. And I know you all know something about that because you all built a community together here too, with people who didn't know each other, come from all different places, with your own passions, your own ideas, your own challenges, and are figuring out that you can do a lot more together than you can do on your own. That is the vision behind the American Climate Corps.
I also really want to say thank you to the Jerrys, Jerry Ingersoll and Jerry Bushman. Thank you so much for the time you spent to show me around but also for the obvious passion you have for the center and for your students. It's just really wonderful to see you and to see the results of that, so...
So, this Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center is really an example of what is possible when we create real opportunity, when we bring people together who care about the climate and who are looking for their way to contribute. And, that's what all of you do.
And, I also want to acknowledge that we are on the land of the Cherokee. So, thank you so much to the Eastern band of Cherokee Indians for also having us here. Chief Hicks, are you still here? Chief Hicks was here earlier today, too, and we know that indigenous folks have, for a very long time, shown us the way in terms of how to protect and respect the planet that we live on.
So, when President Biden and Vice President Harris first came to office four years ago, they knew that they had to do something to address the climate crisis, and they knew that because young people, like you, from all across the country, had been organizing and speaking out and saying, "We deserve better. We need to make sure that we do better."
And it's one of many examples of how your voice is really being heard, and I hope that you feel that and you know that.
And, I appreciate earlier the examples today that you shared, that I'm listening too, so when I travel the country, and I meet young people on Job Corps Centers, we change what we do. Britt Stich, my colleague, and I will vouch for that, because of what you say, and addressing the climate crisis is really something that young people said—with a very loud voice—"We have to do that, and also, that we want to be part of that."
The other thing that you all know is, beside the climate crisis, four years ago when President Biden and Vice President Harris came to office, we also had a good jobs crisis. We needed to create more good jobs across this country because a job is not something that you should have to do where you toil in it, and get paid so little that you still can't really afford to live, where you don't feel like you're respected or treated with dignity, right? Some of you have had those kinds of jobs. How many have had a job that reflects what I just said?
Too many. Right? Too many of us. That is not the American promise. That is not what it is supposed to be like. A good job is supposed to be one where you go to work each day, and you know at the end of the day you're going to get a just day's pay for a hard day's work. Right?
And you know that at the end of the day you're going to go home healthy and safe, the way you came in. Not injured. Not broken. And some people, you know, die on the job. That should never, ever happen.
A good job is one where you should have some benefits, so when you have to go to the doctor, you can go to the doctor without worrying that you're going to have to pay a fortune, or you're going to have to choose between your medication and your rent, right?
A good job is one where, after working for a lifetime, you know that you can retire with dignity. And a good job is one where you can pay for the necessities of life and still have a little left over in the end. So, that's the thing that we want for everybody, and what we realize is that we can both address the climate crisis and the good jobs crisis at the same time by making sure we're creating good jobs to fight for our climate, to fight for our planet. And, that's what all of you have already been doing, and now as part of the American Climate Corps. You get to be part of a unified group of people who are doing that, and, one day, you're going to look back and say, "Wow, that American Climate Corps really did a lot, and you're going to know that you were part of that.
So, we got to work making sure that that would happen, and it doesn't happen by accident. It happens because the Biden Harris Administration is making billions of dollars in investments in communities across the country to do the kinds of things that you are doing now—to make sure that we are fixing roads and bridges, doing construction and building, modernizing airports and building homes that are going to be energy efficient, right? That are going to be able to save people money while we save the planet. And these kinds of investments are helping to create really a clean energy and a climate revolution.
And so, how many of you know that, long ago, before any of us were born, that President Franklin D. Roosevelt created something called the Civilian Conservation Corps? And it put millions of Americans to work, right? You guys know about that. Amazing. Because you're all conservation people, that's why. Everybody should know about that. And it created good jobs from coast to coast.
And, so President Biden is really inspired by that vision to create the current American Climate Corps that you all are part of, but the American Climate Corps is different in one significant way from all those other government programs you've heard of before. The American Climate Corps, this time, is going to look like all of America. It's going to look like the people who I'm looking at right now—looking like people like you and me.
Because the very people who are most impacted by the harms to our climate should be the one's coming up with solutions, are going to be the ones who most directly know, right, that poor air quality, lack of clean drinking water, that with the devastating effects on our climate—it's been Black, brown, Indigenous, Asian communities that have been affected the most.
And so, this Climate Corps is going to reflect the communities that have been most harmed by the climate crisis in order to give you a chance to do the work of fixing it. And so, it's very exciting to see all of you here and knowing that that's what you're going to do.
So, when we take this oath, it's a commitment that you are making, not just to yourself, not just to your climate, but also to each other, right? We're creating a community of people who are going to be accountable to each other to put your talent, your hunger, your drive, the skills you're building here, to good work.
And, together, we know that you are going to, not just do whatever healing you yourself are doing, but also healing your communities and healing our world.
So, your generation made this issue so critical that policymakers could not ignore it, and now your generation is going to be the one that shows us what is possible and shows us a new way.
So, some of the things that you will get from it, you're getting from this program now, right? In addition to being paid for doing American Climate Corps work, some of you will receive health care, child care, transportation benefits. There's lots of other parts of the Climate Corps that we're really proud of. There's a training library to help you advance in your career. So, you're really going to be a part of something much bigger than yourselves, and I hope that you continue to feel that and to feel real pride in it.
So, we need leaders like you as we move forward to address what is a very, very challenging issue in a world where there's lots of people who deny that we live in a climate crisis. You all know there's people who deny that, right?
And so, we not only have to do the hard work, we have to it in the face of some people who, you know, want to close their eyes or put their head in the sand and say, "It's not a real issue."
So, with this American Climate Corps, you are not only helping to save the world, you are also building a world that's worth saving, and it's going to be something that we can all say that we are proud to be a part of—ensuring that ecosystems, communities, homes, businesses, and people all over can survive and build a planet that will continue to be around for a very, very long time.