U.S. Department of Energy teamed up with actor and producer Robert Downey Jr. to recruit new climate change change and clean energy workers to join the Clean Energy Corps.
Downey took part in a recruitment video with Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, according to a July 6 news release. The Clean Energy Corps will help utilize the $62 billion investment from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to meet the goal of a carbon-free power sector by 2035 and a decarbonized economy by 2050.
"President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law puts DOE at the heart of building a better America with clean, affordable energy, and we're wasting no time recruiting people that will make it a reality," Granholm said in the news release. "We are reaching out to the nation's diverse talent, at every stage of their careers, to join the Clean Energy Corps as global leaders in the fight against climate change. And we thank Robert Downey Jr., for joining us in this effort."
DOE's Clean Energy Corps is looking for applicants for jobs intended to accelerate deployment of clean energy, including solar and wind power, as well as building thousands of miles of electric transmission lines for that green power. Other core jobs are in research and develop, as well as deployments, all with an eye toward fighting global climate change.
“I found the perfect summer job!" Downey said in the release. "And, if I commit for a lifetime, it can help guarantee a habitable planet for generations to come. Secretary Granholm and the entire Biden administration are tackling the climate emergency head-on by enlisting America's best and brightest to join the Clean Energy Corps. Not to boast, but I think I’m civilian employee #001.”
The recruiting effort certainly is generating some excitement with FootPrint Coalition talking about it on its Twitter account.
"We need new ways to power the world," FootPrint Coalition said in a July 6 post on Twitter. "That's why @RobertDowneyJr and the FootPrint Coalition are working with the @SecGranholm and the good folks at the @ENERGY to clean up the mess we made. Join us and see what we've got cooking to cool the planet."
