California receives federal funding for climate-ready workforce

California is one of nine US states and territories selected to receive the award. $60 million in federal funding This is part of a significant effort to build a climate-ready workforce nationwide.

Investments by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will support job development efforts in coastal and Great Lakes communities across the country, including a $9.5 million investment to establish the Los Angeles County Climate Ready Employment Council at Long Beach City College.

The LBCC program will help develop training, internships and job placement services for people working in the water and solar energy sectors, which have high demand for workers, officials said. Similar programs were announced Tuesday in American Samoa, Alaska, Washington, Texas, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Ohio and Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

A statement from U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said investments in public, private and educational organizations “will train workers around our coasts and help them find good-paying jobs that will build climate resilience and strengthen local economies.” “Climate change drives the need for a new generation of skilled workers who can help communities address a wide range of climate impacts, including sea level rise, flooding, water quality issues and the need for solutions like renewable energy.”

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The program is funded by President Biden’s historical foundation Inflation Reduction Act It includes $50 million in direct awards and $10 million in technical assistance to help grant recipients. Federal officials told reporters they had received 95 applications for the program, seeking a total of $615 million in funding — more than 10 times the amount available.

“Despite this generational investment, we believe it demonstrates the need and demand for programs like this in communities across the country,” said Jonathan Pennock, director of NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program, which is helping to manage the initiative.

The event comes at a critical time for the country, which is facing increasingly severe climate impacts such as extreme wildfires, floods, heat and storms. Las Vegas, Phoenix and Albuquerque are currently grappling with extreme heat. Record-breaking heat wave While parts of Florida are at risk of landslides A month’s worth of rain in just a few days,

California has set ambitious goals to adapt to climate change, including reducing greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half by 2030 and achieving a 20% increase from 2020 levels by 2025. Carbon neutrality by 2045But getting there will require significant improvements in the transportation and energy sectors, as well as upgrades and investments in manufacturing and infrastructure.

A 2021 study on California’s clean energy transition found that the state is lagging behind the investments needed to meet and strengthen its goals. 1 million new jobs by 2030About 14% of these jobs are related to solar energy, 5% to onshore wind energy and 4% to wastewater.

Such efforts are urgently needed: In the 1980s, the U.S. averaged a billion-dollar weather disaster every four months, according to NOAA. Today, such events occur Once every three weeks,

Wind turbine blades for the offshore wind farm, South Fork Wind, are stored at State Pier in New London, Connecticut, in December 2023.

(Seth Wenig/Associated Press)

“This is a stark reminder of the increasing risks we face,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and NOAA Deputy Administrator Janine Bavishi. “The demand for adaptation and resiliency solutions is growing, and with it the demand for a trained climate-ready workforce to help communities and businesses prepare for the impacts of climate change.”

Bavishi said the number of climate adaptation plans at the city and state level has increased by 32% since 2018, “but translating them into action fairly and effectively is proving difficult.” One obstacle is the lack of a diverse skilled workforce, she said.

Other than this, Fifth National Climate Change AssessmentThe report, released in November, highlights how historically disadvantaged communities, communities of color, and tribal and indigenous communities face disproportionate risks and impacts from climate change. These same communities are also often marginalized in the labor market.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Raimondo said the workforce initiative is intentionally reaching out to communities where training opportunities are available. Support services — such as child care and transportation — are components of the initiative that will help ensure “people can complete the training, graduate and actually get high-quality, well-paying jobs.”

“We need to think clearly about the need to prepare workers to be skilled for jobs and to connect with real jobs, and this initiative is designed to do just that,” he said.

The $9.5 million program at Long Beach City College is the second-largest investment, ahead of the Greater Boston Coastal Resilience Jobs Alliance in Massachusetts, which will receive $9.8 million for a similar effort.

College officials said the LBCC will serve as the “backbone” for the establishment of the Los Angeles County Climate Ready Employment Council — a comprehensive project that will convene teams from the public, private, nonprofit, tribal and educational sectors to improve the county’s climate resilience workforce and develop training and job placements across all sectors in the county.

“While the consequences of climate change may be inevitable, we still have the power to reduce the severity of the consequences by changing both our collective behavior and our infrastructure,” said a statement from LBCC Superintendent-President Mike Muñoz. “Our students will be at the forefront of developing and implementing innovative solutions that are needed to maintain the health of our planet and ensure a resilient future for all.”

LBCC also announced a $750,000 grant this week from the California Municipal Utilities Association’s Water, Wastewater and Energy Workforce Development Program. School officials said both grants will “address the unique needs of communities most impacted by climate change and provide underprivileged and under-resourced workers with training and job opportunities in climate-resilient careers.”

According to the college, the federal program will begin six to nine months after the funds are received. NOAA officials said their goal is to distribute all funds to awardees by August 1.

The Biden administration has already created more than 270,000 clean energy jobs across the country, but officials stressed there is still more work to be done.

“The impacts of the climate crisis are diverse, and the skills needed to empower workers and communities are also diverse,” Raimondo said. “If we want to make sure American workers can take advantage of the jobs we’re creating by tackling climate change, we need to be proactive about training people so they have the skills they need to get the jobs that are available to them.”