White House Launches New American Climate Corps

Originally proposed as part of candidate Joe Biden’s Build Back Better agenda during the 2020 presidential campaign, the American Climate Corps was not funded in the scaled-back Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden’s signature climate legislation enacted last year. The New Deal–style program was revived in late September when the Biden administration announced it would launch the program using existing authority and funds at various federal agencies. The new program will train young people in clean energy, conservation, and climate resilience skills; coordinate recruitment across federal programs; expand AmeriCorps Segal Education Awards access; streamline pathways into civil service; and leverage tribal, state, and local governments.

DOE Highlighting Successes of IRA and Infrastructure Laws

DOE recently launched a new interactive map showing how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) have spurred historic levels of private sector investment in clean energy. The mapping tool covers batteries; electric vehicles, component parts, and EV chargers; offshore wind; and solar.

And a new report from DOE’s Office of Policy titled Investing in American Energy: Significant Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law on the U.S. Energy Economy and Emissions Reductions describes the key results from new analysis on the impacts of the IRA and BIL in OP-NEMS, a customized version of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS). According to the report, by the end of the decade, the two landmark laws will:

• Save American families up to $38 billion on electricity bills
• Reduce US net greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030
• Strengthen US energy security by reducing net crude oil imports by nearly 60%
• Reduce industrial and manufacturing emissions up to 40% below 2005 levels
• Double the share of American electricity generated by clean sources to 80%
• Accelerate the electrification of the American vehicle fleet, with the share of zero-emission light-duty vehicle sales reaching up to 65%