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Are there any figures suggesting it will actually be "cost effective"? Neither the White House release or the AP article mentioned the budget for the program, or what employing 20,000 activists would cost.

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It's a good question, and I'll have to do some more research to "show my work." If you look at the opportunities available, these all look likes roles that would already exist in various federal agencies (Dept of Energy, USDA, Forest Service, Army Corp of Engineers, FEMA) so I would not run right to "this are 20k net new open roles" but rather a reconfiguration of work distribution and candidate funnel (similar to how US Digital Service ingests technologists and associated folks, weighs and measures, and then distributes throughout government agencies in need of exceptional, motivated talent).

TFA doesn't say, but another comment linked to an article that says

"After being thwarted by Congress, President Joe Biden will use his executive authority to create a New Deal-style American Climate Corps"

which means there is no new spending here.

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