To consider a proposal to satisfy the Committee’s reconciliation instructions required by S. Con. Res. 14 (Day 2)

Posted by Brad Johnson Mon, 13 Sep 2021 12:00:00 GMT

Continuation of the House Agriculture Committee’s Build Back Better markup.

Included in this package are multiple bipartisan proposals will provide resources to mitigate climate change, improve quality of life in rural communities, and commit millions of dollars to agricultural education across the country.

Investments include:
  • $7.75 billion in investments in agricultural research and infrastructure; other countries like China are outspending the US on research investments and this money will help close the gap.
  • $18 billion in rural job-promoting investments to ensure those living in rural America, on tribal lands, and our insular areas have access to clean water and reliable and efficient renewable energy. This funding will also support investment in renewable biofuels infrastructure important to farmers and our fight against climate change, and flexible funding for rural community growth.
  • $40 billion in investments in forestry programs to help combat forest fires and contribute to healthy, resilient forests, including $14 billion for “hazardous fuels reduction,” and $4.5 billion for the Civilian Climate Corps for “managing National Forest System land” and “rural and urban conservation and tree planting projects”.
  • $300 million divided equally to the Forest Service for the following six climate-related projects:
    • to carry out greenhouse gas life cycle analyses of domestic wood products
    • to assess the quantity of carbon sequestration and storage accomplished by different forest practices when applied in diverse ecological and geographic settings
    • to accelerate and expand existing research efforts relating to strategies to increase carbon stocks on National Forest System land
    • to accelerate and expand existing research efforts relating to the impacts of climate change and weather variability on national forest ecosystems
    • to accelerate and expand existing research efforts relating to strategies to ensure that national forest ecosystems, including forests, plants, aquatic ecosystems, and wildlife, are able to adapt to climate change and weather variability
    • for activities and tactics to reduce the spread of invasive species on non-Federal forested land

Committee Print

All of the proposed amendments, all of which were submitted by Republicans, were voted down on party lines. The bill was approved also on party lines.

Proposal to satisfy the Committee’s reconciliation instructions required by S. Con. Res. 14

Posted by Brad Johnson Fri, 10 Sep 2021 17:00:00 GMT

The House Committee on Agriculture will hold a business meeting to consider the elements of the reconciliation package under their jurisdiction.

Included in this package are multiple bipartisan proposals will provide resources to mitigate climate change, improve quality of life in rural communities, and commit millions of dollars to agricultural education across the country.

Investments include:
  • $7.75 billion in investments in agricultural research and infrastructure; other countries like China are outspending the US on research investments and this money will help close the gap.
  • $18 billion in rural job-promoting investments to ensure those living in rural America, on tribal lands, and our insular areas have access to clean water and reliable and efficient renewable energy. This funding will also support investment in renewable biofuels infrastructure important to farmers and our fight against climate change, and flexible funding for rural community growth.
  • $40 billion in investments in forestry programs to help combat forest fires and contribute to healthy, resilient forests, including $14 billion for “hazardous fuels reduction,” and $4.5 billion for the Civilian Climate Corps for “managing National Forest System land” and “rural and urban conservation and tree planting projects”.
  • $300 million divided equally to the Forest Service for the following six climate-related projects:
    • to carry out greenhouse gas life cycle analyses of domestic wood products
    • to assess the quantity of carbon sequestration and storage accomplished by different forest practices when applied in diverse ecological and geographic settings
    • to accelerate and expand existing research efforts relating to strategies to increase carbon stocks on National Forest System land
    • to accelerate and expand existing research efforts relating to the impacts of climate change and weather variability on national forest ecosystems
    • to accelerate and expand existing research efforts relating to strategies to ensure that national forest ecosystems, including forests, plants, aquatic ecosystems, and wildlife, are able to adapt to climate change and weather variability
    • for activities and tactics to reduce the spread of invasive species on non-Federal forested land

Committee Print

Examining the Potential for a Civilian Climate Corps

Posted by Brad Johnson Tue, 20 Jul 2021 19:00:00 GMT

Hearing page

Witnesses
  • Tonya Gayle, Executive Director, Green City Force
  • Chas Robles, Corps Director, Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps
  • Scott Segerstrom, Executive Director, Colorado Youth Corps Association
  • LaJuan D. Tucker, Environmental Program Coordinator, Wildlife Austin and the Austin Nature Preservation System
Republican witness
  • Tate Watkins, Research Fellow, Property and Environment Research Center

Policy + Pints: The Urgent Need for a Civilian Climate Corps with Sen. Ed Markey

Posted by Brad Johnson Wed, 14 Jul 2021 20:00:00 GMT

Markey your calendars: Evergreen’s next Policy + Pints happy hour is coming up—and, as you might have guessed, Senator Ed Markey is joining us! We’re going to be talking about the urgent need to launch a Civilian Climate Corps. (Think of it as a justice-driven, climate-centered version of FDR’s Civilian Conservation Corps.)

In this virtual BYOB special hosted by Evergreen Action campaigns director Lena Moffitt, we’ll chat with:
  • Senator Markey
  • Tonya Gayle, executive director, Green City Force
  • Lauren Maunus, advocacy director, Sunrise Movement

about:

  • Why the CCC is such a powerful opportunity for taking on our overlapping climate and economic crises
  • How overwhelmingly popular it is
  • What corpsmembers would actually do in communities across the country
  • And more!

Bring beer, tea, wine, kombucha—whatever!—and join us on Wednesday, July 14 at 4 pm ET / 1 pm PT.

Markey and Ocasio-Cortez Introduce Civilian Climate Corps Act of 2021

Posted by Brad Johnson Tue, 20 Apr 2021 19:09:00 GMT

Today, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) are introducing the Civilian Climate Corps for Jobs and Justice Act of 2021. The act establishes the Civilian Climate Corps (CCC), to be administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service within AmeriCorps.

Over five years, 1.5 million Americans in the CCC will complete federally-funded projects that help communities respond to climate change and transition to a clean economy. CCC work will reduce carbon pollution, enable a transition to renewable energy, build healthier and more resilient communities, implement conservation projects with proven climate benefits, and help communities recover from climate disasters.

Corpsmembers will receive education and training in coordination with local institutions, including labor unions, and will coordinate closely with local groups to help develop career pathways and union opportunities in new green sectors.

Markey and Ocasio-Cortez discussed the bill on the National Mall today:

The CCC will administer a large national service program and provide simplified and enhanced grants to scale up the existing network of over 130 local and state service and conservation corps.

All corpsmembers are guaranteed the following benefits:
  • Salary and benefits: Compensation of at least $15 per hour, full health care coverage, and critical support services such as transportation, housing, and childcare.
  • Educational Funding: Enabling educational grants of $25,000 per year of service, up to $50,000, eligible for further education at any level or to pay down student debt.
  • Career Opportunities: Corps will prioritize registered pre-apprenticeship curricula and union membership as part of service. Corpsmembers will receive vocational training appropriate to the local job market.
  • Explicit antiracist language ensures that environmental justice communities receive benefits of at least 50% of CCC and Partner Corps projects, and 50% of corpsmembers will be recruited from these same communities, with no age limit for participation in at least 50% of Partner Corps.
  • Labor groups will beintegrated into CCC and Partner Corps planning and operations, with DOL registered pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs prioritized for grants, required coordination with local labor unions, buy American provisions in procurement, and advisory board representation from labor groups. The corps, partner corps, and any private companies partnered in corps activities will adhere to neutrality and card check agreements.
  • Tribal communities will receive 10% of the dedicated EJ benefits.
Eligible projects include but are not limited to:
  • Weatherizing and retrofitting residential and non-residential buildings for energy efficiency and electrification and participating in the construction of new net-zero buildings
  • Maintenance and operation of energy-efficient and net zero buildings and properties
  • Building energy-efficient affordable housing units
  • Conducting energy audits
  • Recommending ways for households to improve energy efficiency
  • Installing and upgrading public transit and electric vehicle infrastructure
  • Installing clean energy infrastructure in homes and small businesses, on farms, and in communities
  • Advising on climate and energy policy
  • Providing clean energy-related services
  • Expanding broadband access and adoption
  • Working with schools and youth programs to educate students and youth about ways to reduce home energy use and improve the environment
  • Assisting in the development of local recycling and composting programs
  • Renewing and rehabilitating public and tribal lands and trails owned or maintained by the Federal Government, an Indian tribe, a State, a municipal or local government, or any formal partners of those entities
  • Improving air quality or other pollution monitoring networks
  • Remediation of the effects of toxins and other hazardous pollution
  • Building and maintaining green stormwater management infrastructure
  • Creating and expanding local and regional food systems
  • Developing farm to institution distribution models to make schools, hospitals, and other institutions healthier and more food resilient
  • Performing community resilience assessments
  • Collecting and analyzing data related to climate change and disasters
  • Advising and planning for community resilience and adaptation
  • Building and maintaining resilient infrastructure
  • Conducting prescribed burns or engaging in reforestation activity
  • Supporting the activities of local emergency management agencies and programs
  • Advising and supporting farmers and ranchers in the implementation of management practices that account for climate change organizing community-based resiliency coalitions and working groups
  • Providing disaster preparedness or community emergency response team training to community-based organizations and residents, bincluding for animals in disasters
  • Providing education on climate change, disaster, and resilience at community-based organizations and schools
  • Developing community climate resilience hub infrastructure
  • Clearing debris after climate disasters
  • Repairing and rebuilding homes and buildings
  • Replanting locally adapted native trees and plants
  • Stabilizing shorelines and hillsides
  • Conserving, protecting, and restoring habitat, especially habitat to threatened, endangered, and at-risk species;
  • Stabilizing shorelines or riparian areas using green infrastructure such as native wetlands
  • Removing invasive species and planting locally adapted native species
  • Collecting, storing, and propagating native seeds and plant materials
  • removing hazardous fuels within one-quarter mile of dwellings and homes or one-quarter mile around delineated communities
  • Planting and maintaining urban, tribal, and rural forests, trees, native grasslands, and natural areas developing urban farms and gardens
  • Reforestation of native forest ecosystems, afforestation, and other projects to achieve demonstrable carbon sinks
  • Reclaiming unneeded roads and tracks and restoring affected lands to natural conditions
  • Restoring and managing wildlife corridors and habitat connectivity for native species, including building wildlife crossings and removing barriers to wildlife movement
  • Assisting farmers and ranchers in a transition to more regenerative farming and ranching systems

Download the bill here.