By Tina Doose, Braddock Borough Council Woman

This guest essay first appeared on TribLive.com September 13, 2021--

Braddock has never recovered from deindustrialization, a phenomena that led to mass blight, unemployment and the drug epidemic.

In addition, we have been targeted by large companies for our rail, river and road access without much thought or consideration for the long-lasting and life-changing effects such industries would have on the town’s people and environment.

That’s why I’m coming out to support an ambitious once-in-a-lifetime public works project to jump-start our local economy while addressing the cause and effects of our impending climate crisis, and employing our neighbors who have been left out of the job market.

In the early 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was created as part of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.

This work relief program was intended to improve America’s public lands while simultaneously employing thousands of (disproportionately white) men. It helped build both familial wealth and public infrastructure that have lasted well through this century.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of discussion around reintroducing a modern CCC that could address environmental justice issues within our communities as well as create jobs for underserved populations.

A modern CCC would be open to all Americans and could play a vital role providing family-sustaining employment that builds intergenerational prosperity.

These jobs would capitalize on the potential for fixing our urban trees and green spaces, reforesting abandoned mine lands, restoring polluted wetlands and other carbon-absorbing natural infrastructure investments.

Groups like ReImagine Appalachia are envisioning a revitalized and updated CCC that would work to solve our infrastructure, climate and employment crises. The Political Economy Research Institute found through a job study that this program could create 53,070 jobs in Pennsylvania, 11,612 jobs in West Virginia and 50,900 jobs in Ohio.

Not only would a new CCC create jobs across our multi-state region, but if it is crafted correctly, it could be an important source of living-wage jobs and apprenticeship prep training, building pathways toward family-sustaining careers for underserved communities by prioritizing employment to Black and indigenous people of color, low-income workers, and those reentering society after incarceration or probation.

Equity and inclusion are both critical factors that must be a part of a modern CCC. Historically, the CCC failed in advocating for the rights of everyone. We must ensure that vulnerable populations are prioritized for work with the CCC.

Formerly incarcerated individuals face severe troubles in being reintroduced to the workforce. Unfortunately, many employers hesitate to hire people who were previously incarcerated, even if they were arrested on minor drug charges.

The opioid epidemic has hit our community hard, and we must provide more opportunities and resources to those individuals trying to rebuild their lives after living through addiction and incarceration.

The CCC will create jobs for individuals who may not have been offered a job otherwise.

This modern CCC will also ensure that men and women of all ethnicities and socioeconomic status are offered the same opportunity, and individuals from marginalized communities will be prioritized in the hiring process so communities like mine can be revitalized.

As an elected official who would like to see these jobs come to the community I represent, I am encouraging our Pennsylvania congressional delegation to support and advocate for a revived CCC, which is in reach.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey recently introduced the Revive the CCC Act, which would advance efforts to tackle the climate crisis while creating well-paying, quality conservation jobs that protect and restore waterways, working lands, and the health and resiliency of our rural and urban communities.

Rep. Conor Lamb, along with Reps. Susan Wild and Dwight Evans, just introduced a companion piece in the [U.S.] House.

Casey’s and Lamb’s CCC bills hit on the importance of catering to inclusion by having a reentry program and resources through pre-apprenticeship programs, fair wages and prioritizing non-college-educated workers.

From rural towns struggling with shuttered coal plants to urban communities redeveloping brownfields, we need to band together to make real the promise of America.

It is my hope that more members of Congress will step up to support these jobs coming home to struggling Pennsylvania communities, for we all do better when we all do better.

Tina Doose is a Braddock Borough councilwoman in Allegheny County and chair of the Mon Metro Chamber of Commerce.

(Reprinted from the TribLive.com September 13, 2021.)

NewsClips:

-- Gov. Wolf: Urges Congressional Delegation To Support Proposed Biden Budget Funding Education, Clean Energy, Civilian Conservation Corps, Chesapeake Bay Initiatives

-- PA Cap-Star: As Nation Grapples With Climate Disasters, PA Members Of Congress Look To Resurrect Civilian Conservation Corps

[Posted: September 14, 2021]

9/20/2021