Students are Interested in Climate Change Careers and Need Information Now

Students who see families escaping wildfires and catastrophic storms striking cities want to know more about how climate change may affect their job choices.

However, according to educators and experts, workforce education has been hesitant to offer solutions or restructure training programs to educate students for careers that aid in reducing the consequences of climate change.

In fact, 31% of the nearly 1,000 students polled by the EdWeek Research Center in the fall of 2022 said that they were interested in learning more about careers in sustainability and climate change. But few students learn about those professions in school: only 22 percent of teachers report discussing these job options with their students.

Mackenzie Harsell, a junior at Hopewell Valley Central High School in New Jersey, is one high school student interested in a career of assisting with climate change mitigation. In her free time, she creates "eco-bricks" out of recycled plastic that may be reused as construction blocks. A college leaflet she got in the mail inspired her to choose a career in applied sustainability.

According to Mackenzie, in that position she would assist businesses be more sustainable, via their manufacturing emissions, packaging, procedures, and so on. That seems incredibly intriguing, as deals with personally influencing individuals and showing them how to improve on a smaller size, which expands to become a larger scale.

However, a lot of students claim that they do not have as many dialogues as they would want regarding jobs that contribute to the fight against or management of the effects of climate change at school. Some accuse the overall lack of information rather than their lecturers.

Josh Layne, a senior at Orange High School in Lewis Center, Ohio, stated that he indeed learned critical thinking about the environment from his teachers. However, he doubts they have the resources to help him learn how to locate a job as well.

Is a Civilian Climate Corps the solution?

A Civilian Climate Corps that is being proposed in Washington and would be based on the conservation corps of the 1930s might contribute to the answer. Democrats in Congress have proposed the idea, and the Biden administration even issued an executive order to launch the corps. However, Congress has not yet enacted the necessary legislation to formally establish it.

According to a recent survey conducted by the progressive think tank and polling company Data for Progress, there is a lot of public interest in the initiative. Only 24% of probable voters reject the proposal, compared to 63% who are in favor.

According to the study, Democrats are far more inclined to support the program, with an overwhelming 83 percent in favor, compared to 48 percent of independent voters and just a quarter of Republicans.

According to its proponents, the climate corps might aid in the preservation of public lands, boost reforestation, save biodiversity, facilitate the switch to renewable energy sources, and aid local people in recovering from hurricanes and other weather-related disasters. Additionally, the initiative would aid in creating career paths for employees interested in pursuing jobs designed to lessen climate change. A plan sponsored by Sen. Edward Markey in 2021 would provide a decent salary and educational benefits to anyone employed by the corps.