Boston is battling the climate crisis and creating good-paying jobs in the process.
It’s a goal the city is closer to reaching thanks to millions of dollars in federal funding for the city to develop the workforce needed to enhance climate and coastal resilience across its neighborhoods.
“Turning Boston into a green monster. Fighting against climate change, fighting so that Boston sets the example for the rest of the country and the rest of the word, U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-MA, said Monday.
The City of Boston just received $9.8 million in federal funding to help it push to the forefront of the climate crisis.
Mayor Michelle Wu said the money will help in the launch of the Greater Boston Climate and Coastal Resilience Workforce Alliance.
“If we want to continue to be the best home for innovators, entrepreneurs and working families, we need to not only invest in creating more jobs but protecting our coast and our residents from the impacts of climate change,” Wu said.
Markey said the alliance will train 1,200 workers to be the city’s climate first responders over the next four years, investing in water utility management, construction, community outreach and other coastal resilience careers.
“We have an economic, a health and a moral imperative to act on climate and environmental injustice, climate-fueled disasters like the hurricanes we saw in the American Southeast this fall are just a preview of upcoming atrocities of tomorrow,” he said.
Wu said the city will also be creating more than 500 new jobs across the energy and environment sectors, like flood protection and emergency preparedness, and offering wraparound support, like child care and training stipends.