Climate Corps would have more employees under Biden than NASA and the EPA combined
With the national debt racing toward a record $35 trillion, President Joe Biden released his budget proposal Monday, including an eye-popping $8 billion for a "Climate Corps" program.
Enthusiastically supported by Green New Deal architects New York Democrat Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Massachusetts Democrat Senator Ed Markey, Biden’s Climate Corps would hire 50,000 government workers annually by 2031 with the explicit yet vague mission of "tackling climate change." Any guesses which political party these workers will be supporting?
The budget proposal made good on Biden’s pledge during the State of the Union to triple the number of workers from the original 20,000 he proposed last fall.
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One can only surmise the Climate Corps would focus on carrying out Biden’s 2020 campaign vow to "end fossil fuel." Since taking office, his administration has done their best to make good on this promise.
Climate Defiance said it met with senior White House climate adviser John Podesta. Biden's new budget includes funds for 50,000 climate activists. (Getty Images | Brendan Gutenschwager/X/Video screenshot)
They have targeted the oil and gas industry at every opportunity, from executive orders curtailing leasing on federal land to the so-called "Inflation Reduction Act" that contained more than $369 billion dollars of green giveaways.
The Climate Corps has been likened to President Franklin Roosevelt’s Depression Era jobs program, but there has never been legislation nor appropriation of such an expansive government program without congressional approval.
For context, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has a workforce of less than 20,000, as does the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Both of those agencies have a clear mission and are funded through and accountable to Congress.
Much like the Biden administration’s "special presidential envoy for climate," the Climate Corps skirts constitutional congressional oversight. There are no details on leadership, staff, selection criteria, or even budget. When so-called Climate Czar John Kerry brazenly refused to comply with oversight requests, my organization filed a lawsuit. If past is prologue, the Climate Corps is likely to employ a similar tactic.
But it shouldn’t come to this. Congress can and should use the power of the purse to stop this boondoggle from moving forward. According to Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 of the U.S. Constitution, "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law."
Conservatives have learned the hard way about the difficulties in repealing government entitlement programs once enacted. Look no further than Obamacare, which Republicans tried and failed to unwind, despite controlling all three branches of government in 2017. As President Ronald Reagan once observed, "a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth."
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With his poll numbers among young voters lagging over his handling of Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists, Biden badly needs a bone to throw the youth. His administration has already pledged to sign a bipartisan bill cracking down on TikTok, which will add even more fuel to the fire.
Biden is fond of saying, "Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget—and I’ll tell you what you value." Applying that logic to the latest budget, one finds $8 billion for climate workers and $4.7 billion for the emergency situation at the border. It tells us everything we need to know about his misplaced priorities.
They have targeted the oil and gas industry at every opportunity, from executive orders curtailing leasing on federal land to the so-called "Inflation Reduction Act" that contained more than $369 billion dollars of green giveaways.
Even if the overall budget is dead on arrival, Congress can use its constitutionally allotted powers to kill the Biden Climate Corps before it launches, and let’s hope they seize the moment. Republicans have complained mightily about the weaponization of government and the targeting of political opponents. Thousands of young people door-to-door canvasing for climate change will be both.
We should not spend tax dollars so Gen Zers can knock on the doors of those deemed in need of climate change education, nor should it be gathering signatures of those who support their agenda.
A program the size of the Climate Corps, without congressional approval, must be stopped as blatantly unconstitutional. Failure to do so undermines the rule of law and threatens an industry so vital to our economy and national security.
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Daniel Turner is the executive director of Power The Future, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for American energy jobs. Follow him on Twitter @DanielTurnerPTF
