California's 'Astronauts of the Green Revolution'

Investing at least $10 million in federal economic stimulus funding from the U.S. Department of Labor and an additional $10 million from public-private partnerships, the initial phase of the California Green Corps will consist of a 20-month pilot program reaching at least 1,000 of California's at-risk young adults.

"The Green Corps will help underprivileged young people learn job skills while we create a well-trained workforce for clean technology and for the green economy," said Governor Schwarzenegger. "I've been pushing for this program for a long time, because it kind of combines my passion for the environment, for protecting the economy, creating jobs, career-tech education and helping underprivileged kids and of course, service."

After meeting with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis in Sacramento to discuss federal economic stimulus funding and job creation, the governor traveled across town to announce the new Green Corps at the American River College campus.

The community college offers courses such as Energy 140, Electrical Applications for Solar Installers, an introductory course in the Solar Photovoltaic Installer Program.

This program is one of 12 new community college certificate and associate degree programs to train new and incumbent workers for the clean energy industry of California.

"I met with U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and talked to her at great length about this program and she was very impressed when we told her what we are doing out here," the governor said. "And of course she knows, because she is from this state, how this state always has been in the front when it comes to training for green jobs."

During the campaign leading to the November 2008 election, Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden promised to create a Green Jobs Corps to engage disadvantaged youth in energy efficiency opportunities to strengthen their communities, while providing them with practical skills in this high-growth career field.

While Governor Schwarzenegger is a Republican, he said his plans for job creation in California are in step with those of the Obama administration.

"President Obama and I share similar priorities right now when it comes to helping the economy rebound and creating a greener California and America,” said the governor. "In California we will utilize federal economic stimulus funds and public-private partnerships to help stimulate our economy while initiating actions to improve our environment."

In Sacramento for the Green Corps announcement, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums said, "We come together against a backdrop of two important problems that confront this nation. One, an unprecedented economic downturn and the extraordinary challenges of global warming that require us to do our level best."

From left, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mayor Kevin Johnson, Secretary Karen Baker, Mayor Ron Dellums at American River College. (Photo courtesy Office of the Governor)

"I'm extraordinarily pleased to be here today, because Oakland pioneered this idea with Ella Baker Center, Green for All and several other organizations," said the mayor. "We put together resources with the support of the Oakland City Council and community to create the first green jobs corps idea that has now mushroomed not only into a state program but into a national program, right even into the White House of this country."

"It embraces a very simple yet extraordinarily elegant idea - fight poverty and fight pollution simultaneously," he said.

"Think about these young people who are now training in this area as the astronauts of the green revolution," Mayor Dellums said. "You are the ones who will stand there as the first people in the battle to reclaim this planet. And my generation made the mistake of thinking that we had time. Your generation cannot make that mistake; time is not on your side and so here's a program that will allow us to go forward."

The program will consist of a minimum of 10 regional Green Corps throughout the state - with at least one regional Green Corps located in each of California's nine economic regions.

All programs will be public-private partnerships that include green job training, a stipend for the students, an educational requirement and community service.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said the Green Corps will be good for California's capital city. "We as a city have an opportunity to be a hub when it comes to the green industry. In our region alone we have 100 businesses that we need to build on, 2,000 employees, $600 million of sales here in our region. We have a chance to be at the cutting edge of this and this is a very significant first step."

To help ensure the success of the Green Corps, it will be housed under CaliforniaVolunteers. The agency will leverage federal economic stimulus funding and work with public-private partnerships and across state agencies.

Secretary of Service and Volunteering Karen Baker said, "We're going to be working with our state partners but we have to be in touch with those hundreds of nonprofits, those businesses, those community colleges, those foundations, that all have to be, if you will, in the sandbox playing well together in order to really create these amazing opportunities for youth."

And California is a green field of opportunities, the governor said. "In the next five or 10 or 20 years, California is going to need a lot of workers to install all of those solar panels, because you remember we passed a Million Solar Roof Initiative and there solar panels are being put on homes all over the state of California, faster than in any other place in America. We need also more sheet metal workers to produce wind turbines and more construction workers to build co-generation units."

"So this is the bottom line here, is we're trying to put all of this together," he said, "helping underprivileged young kids, then protecting the environment and protecting the economy."

The Green Corps program furthers the goals of California's Green Collar Jobs Council which was created when Assembly Bill 3018 was enacted in September 2008. The Council is charged with developing a comprehensive approach to address the workforce needs associated with California's emerging green economy.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2009. All rights reserved.