Van Jones, influential environmental activist and President of the Oakland-based non-profit Green For All, recently became the first African-American with a book about the environment to make the New York Times bestseller list. In his debut book, The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems, Jones dishes candor and offers pragmatic solutions to help the country become more energy efficient and make money.
It is this pragmatism that brings together an unlikely coalition of traditional environmental activists in Marin County, California, and those who hail from inner cities like Oakland, to tackle the world’s two biggest problems: global warming and poverty. Here is an excerpt, which highlights why this book is an important and worthwhile read:
Bringing people of different races and classes and backgrounds together under a single banner is tougher than it sounds. The affluent have blind spots. The disadvantaged have sore spots. And both pose barriers to cooperation.
For instance, large and powerful constituencies of white, affluent, and college-educated progressives exist and are active in the United States. They are passionate about the environment, fair trade, economic justice, and global peace. Unfortunately, many do not yet work in concrete with people of color in their own country to pursue this agenda; they champion "alternative economic development strategies" across the globe, but not across town. These people could be great allies in uplifting our inner cities, if they are given encouragement and a clear opportunity to do so.
On the other hand, the truth is that many groups of people of color do not want to work in coalition with majority white organizations and white leaders. Many fear betrayal; others resent chronic white arrogance. Cultural differences and power imbalances create tensions; some organizations are actually committed to a racially exclusivist ideology. Even though such organizations could benefit from additional allies and outside assistance, the very folks who could most benefit from a green opportunity agenda are loath to get involved….
I have been trying to bridge this divide for nearly a decade. And I have learned a few things along the way. What I found is that leaders from impoverished areas like Oakland, California, tended to focus on three areas: social justice, political solutions, and social change. They cared primarily about "the people." They focused their efforts on fixing schools, improving health care, defending civil rights, and reducing the prison population. Their studies centered on "social change" work like lobbying, campaigning, and protesting. They were wary of businesses; instead, they turned to the political system and government to help solve the problems of the community.
The leaders I met from affluent places like Marin County (just north of San Francisco), San Francisco, and Silicon Valley had what seemed to be the opposite approach. Their three focus areas were ecology, business solutions, and inner change. They were champions of the environment who cared primarily about "the planet." They worked to save the rain forests and important species like whales and polar bears. Also, they were usually dedicated to "inner change" work, including meditation and yoga. And they put a great deal of stress on making wise, Earth-honoring consumer choices. In fact, many were either green entrepreneurs or investors in eco-friendly businesses in the first place.
Every effort I made to get the two groups together initially was a disaster–sometimes ending in tears, anger, and slammed doors.
Don’t worry. His book is not bleak. He does incorporate a lot of uplifting anecdotes of various organizations and officials in cities like Oakland, Chicago and Los Angeles creating local green jobs benefiting people from all walks of life — particularly those who considered themselves too poor to become environmental activists. In fact, it is those same people who will launch the new green economy, according to Jones.
Let’s be clear, the main piece of technology in the green economy is a caulk gun. Hundreds of thousands of green-collar jobs will be weatherizing and energy-retrofitting every building in the United States. Buildings with leaky windows, ill-fitting doors, poor insulation, and old appliances can gobble up 30 percent more energy. That means owners are paying 30 percent more on their heating bills. And it often means that 30 percent more coal-fired carbon is going into the atmosphere. Drafty buildings create broke, chilly people–and an overheated planet.
Another bit of high-tech green technology is the clipboard. That tool is used by energy auditors as they point out energy-saving opportunities to homeowners and renters. This job does not require much training and can be an early entry point into the booming world of energy consultation and efficiency. And one consultation can save an owner hundreds-or even thousands-of dollars annually.
Other green-collar workers can then follow up with other tasks for building owners: wrapping hot-water heaters with blankets, blowing insulation, plugging holes, repairing cracks, hauling out old appliances, replacing old windows with the double-glazed kind. Other pieces of green tech are ladders, wrenches, hammers, tool belts, and nonslip work boots. Those are the space-age gadgets used by solar-panel installers every day.
The point is this. When you think about the emerging green economy, don’t think of George Jetson with a jet pack. Think of Joe Sixpack with a hard hat and lunch bucket, sleeves rolled up, going off to fix America. Think of Rosie the Riveter, manufacturing parts for hybrid buses or wind turbines. Those images will represent the true face of a green-collar America.
The only barrier to launch the new green economy is a lack of trained workers – and willpower on our part, said Jones.
I am pleased to announce that Van Jones will join us this Saturday at 5 p.m. to discuss his new book and ways each of us can help launch this green revolution. Please join us for this important conversation!
Related posts:
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Leigh Stringer, The Green Workplace
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Seth Jones, In The Graveyard of Empires
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Bruce Bartlett, The New American Economy: The Failure of Reaganomics and a New Way Forward
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes Barry Ritholtz – Bailout Nation: How Greed and Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street and Shook the World Economy
- FDL Book Salon Welcomes William Greider, Come Home America
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Van, Welcome to the Lake.
Elisa, Thank you for Hosting today’s Book Salon.
Hi Van! Thanks for joining us. My question is this: Your ideas sound great on paper. What would a green collar job sector look like in practice?
Thank you for having us Beverly!
I am here! Hello! :)
Hi Van. I was lucky enough to catch your presentation in Denver at the Big Tent. I’m a little more than halfway through your book and consider it visionary so far.
So here’s a question drawn from personal experience. If I haven’t misunderstood you, one of your proposals is a federal program for weatherization. Perhaps you’ve answered this in the parts of your book I haven’t read yet, but would it make sense in supplement for municipal activists to push similar efforts so landlords are obligated to (re)weatherize their properties? Or are there economy-of-scale obstacles to those efforts that I’m not considering? (i.e., the prospect for management companies to go out of business or jack rents so high that it contributes to the crisis of unaffordable housing.) Don’t know, just asking.
To revive the U.S. economy, we are going to have to become producers, not just consumers. One thing we can produce here is clean energy – and all the component parts of a clean energy revolution. Imagine people installing solar panels on every roof in America. Imagine Detroit being put back to work – not making SUVs that will destroy the world, but wind turbines and solar panels that can save it. Imagine millions of homes being weatherized and energy retrofitted. Imagine people coming home from wars and prisons, with a secure future in a booming energy sector. That is what it would look like.
Hi Have you heard when and how much Obama will put into fixing up schools homes etc and making them more energy efficient?
Does he have a plan? Like all schools, government buildings etc will have energy efficient doors and windows by such a date?
What about help to home owners and poor home owners?
Elisa and Van, welcome to FDL this afternoon.
I have not had an opportunity to read your book Van but from Elisa’s write-up, it appears that the best starting point for a green collar economy is in old fashioned hard work and energy savings.
(Said as someone whose father was adamant about making sure we turned out lights when we weren’t in the room and used weather stripping and such to block drafty windows every winter.)
Cool! Is Obama on board ?
Will Obama encourage the Green companies to set up plants in places like Detroit? How will he do this? Or should the government take the lead and How?
You are on the right track. The big play here is to find an efficient, smart way to weatherize millions of homes. Right now, ESCOs/energy service corporations cherry pick the big hospitals, universities and large buildings, and they retrofit those. But they are not in the business of doing lots of smaller homes and businesses. With some upfront capital (probably from the federal govt), utility companies could take on weatherizing all the smaller buildings – and then recoup the costs on the energy bill, just by using some of the cost savings. We have a big proposal called the Clean Energy Corps, which you can use a search engine to find. It lays out a very smart plan for doing this – next year! Bottom line: We could weatherize every home in America, and it would pay for itself in cost savings. We just need the utility companies onboard – and some federal dollars to kick-start it.
I know the transition team is working on some very exciting stuff, which will be made public later, regarding schools. I don’t know the final details, though. His folks are on it! :)
Thanks for coming, Van, and for your vision and proactive power!
In a country that is dizzy from having been spun so much that facts and reality seem irrelvant to those with the power and those doing commentary for the power people, how can you induce our governmental reps to advocate for the common good and the planet, rather than the lobbying greenwashing profiteers? I mean, I know post Bush we have no place to go but up. But it seems the planet is always on the manana list.
I hope you can come back and tell us your opinion on his plans we could use some expert advice to help us evaluate them:)
Along the lines of libbyliberal’s question, why haven’t more people connected being more friendly to the environment with actually making money? It seems like it should be a priority in any incoming administration.
Your dad was a wise man. We have spent the past 30 years (not just the past 8) living as if the US economy could go on forever, basing itself on three fallacies: (1) that would could consume here more than we produce here forever, with no adverse economic consequences; (2) that we could run the economy based on debt and credit, rather than smart savings and thrift, like our grandparents and (3) that we could base the economy on ecological destruction, rather than ecological restoration. Those three fallacies – consumption, debt and environmental destruction – are what led to the present crash. Those three fallacies define the “grey” economy. But the reverse – local production, thrift and ecological restoration – define the “green” economy. And that is where we have to go, now.
Hi Van and welcome.
A very exciting book. What are your feelings on the upcoming supplemental? How can green jobs best be included in it?
We have presented our ideas to the transition team, and they seem interested. We will see. :)
How long would it take to train the workers? What is the level of education needed to do these jobs?
What kind of background is needed I would think that former car makers have many skills that would transfer over.
If we spend X amount of cash on green jobs how many people would we employ? Is there a point where we spend more on X and the number of people employed would skyrocket?
How long would it take to set up a greener economy assuming Obama was really willing to spend?
You are pointing to the main political problem of our time. The military-petroleum complex has run the country for a long time. Finally, it has run the country into a ditch. … In my book, I talk about an alternative power base – a Green Growth Alliance (green business, labor, youth-&-students, faith-based communities, social justice) that could turn the country around. We need a permanent, governing coalition – based on the idea of creating an Earth-honoring economy. The next four years give us a great opportunity to forge one.
I would love to! :)
I am hopeful that generation Y is reported to be concerned about their own along with the “common” good and are willing to have a world view. Also, I think a lot of teachers over a lot of years have been consciousness raising the youth of America about conservation of energy and that generation is ripe to get “serious”.
You are looking at a win/win coming together with blue, pink, white collars, and the educated and ex-middle class, I hope. And if I still do care about the fate of the polar bear, your movement has room for me … or am I over there in the kumbaya FAR left corner that BO’s administration isn’t always attentive to?
Cool! Jane is in charge I hope this can be worked out.
Great question! My dad works in the automotive industry for one of the suppliers. He would love to re-train to do something else, but he is not sure where to go for training, or where to work. Van?
I read you are a fan of Ralph Nader. Good for you. Have you worked or talked to Al Gore? Is there an active intersection with his work?
I feel very defeatist about the corporate (sociopathological greed and narcissism) will prevailing.
For too long, we have seen the green economy as a place for affluent people to SPEND money on eco-extras and luxury choices. Now we must see the green economy as a place for millions of ordinary people to EARN money – and for low-income people to SAVE money. That means focusing less on individual consumer choices alone (as important as those are) and focusing more collective action as citizens and voters. … Let’s keep trying to get each homeowner to chase down each one of their kids, trying to get the rug rats to unplug their phone chargers and turn off the lights. And let’s keep passing out the smart light bulbs. … But let’s also create a national clean energy smart grid (powered by solar power and wind power), so that everyone will automatically contribute less pollution when the light and heat their homes. But we will also create millions of green jobs in the clean energy sector.
Unfortunately though, too many of the faith-based community still believe in the way of James Watt, who IIRC, stated that Jesus and God wanted us to show that we’ve used up all the resources when they return. And I think that group includes many of those who believe we are living in the “End Times”
Kinda puts them totally in conflict with the ideas of trying to save the planet from ourselves.
Public school teachers where concerned about the environment when I went to grade school but that was during the 70’s and high oil prices only the science teachers seemed concerned in later grades.
I would think that with a high oil prices and a war the next crop of kids coming up should be more green than I am.
We have to be very careful about the stimulus package. All this talk about “shovel-ready” projects really scares me. Shovel-ready can mean “sprawl-ready.” Let’s not rush to spend money building more highways to nowhere. We need to make sure that each dollar in the stimulus package does multiple jobs – cutting unemployment, revving up the economy, improving infrastructure, BUT ALSO cutting carbon, creating better transit and energy systems, and improving air quality. There is a campaign going on called “Keep The Stimulus CLEAN” that i hope everyone will support.
Hey, there.
The only problem I see is that a government subsidy for weatherproofing in commercial residential properties would allow landlords in communities with rent regulation to increase rents significantly for capital improvements which actually lower their costs. Is there some way to protect renters?
I think the new generation is WAY ahead of all of us on these issues – thanks to the hard work of teachers, I agree. As for loving the polar bears: I love em, too. I went all the way to the Arctic this summer, just to check on them. So we are on the same team. At the same time, we enviros have to make sure that we tell the world: we love our sister and brother species – AND our sisters and brothers. We want to uplift vulnerable people WHILE we protect our vulnerable planet. I think that is the winning formula for maximum social change.
Would using green power to help grow organic and or hydroponic food in old buildings in the cities be a good idea I read that people are trying this but I can’t remember where?
Elisa — so great to see you here at FDL. And welcome, Van — wonderful book, some great ideas in it, and some much needed inspiration for a lot of communities and future leaders. Thanks so much for writing it!
Van — this will make you happy. My husband’s firm is building a new office for one of their offices, and they are building it green. They ran the numbers for the extra cost up front versus their savings in costs on the back end running a more efficient building — and it was a no brainer. I’m hoping it will be an inspiration to other groups building in our area in the future.
How do we get more businesses and governmental leaders to stop long enough to take a breath and run the numbers instead of rushing headlong into a quick but imprudent decision and not thinking green up front?
I think it is wise to be cautious. “Throwing money” at the problem seems to be a governmental problem. No cronyism especially without competence. Delegating and organizing and monitoring such programs is exciting but formidable.
Education is key. Science can make my eyes glaze over, unfortunately. And you have to end the “disconnect” between employers and employees … to make the relationship more committed to a serious, mutually beneficial goal.
You might want to give college loan forgiveness percentages to effetive young teachers who commit to help out with the training and organizing?
I am a HUGE Nader fan. He got more laws passed than most presidents. I don’t blame him for the 500+ votes that Gore lost by in 2000. The race was stolen by the GOP-dominated Supreme Court, not by Nader or the Greens. Also, a margin that small could be attributed to a million different factors; so people should not single out one person, especially not someone who has done so much good. The “butterfly ballot” cost us that many votes, but nobody talks about that anymore …
I have talked with Gore; he blurbed my book, and he has given support to Green For All (the organization I helped to found).
Don’t worry. We will beat the bad guys. It is our turn now. :)
Looking at those numbers green and no green where the costs and savings are would be interesting:)
Help us get full funding for the Green Jobs Act and the Clean Energy Corps! (You can sign up at GreenForAll.org.) We are working overtime to get the job training programs up and running in this country.
Not all Christians are right-wing. That is a big stereotype that the secular eco crowd has to get over. I am a Christian. So was my grandmother – who was always talking about “God’s green Earth” and basing her life on the values of thrift. Many Christians are coming around to the idea of “Creation Care” – that part of loving the Creator, is caring for Creation. We should forge stronger ties with people of faith who are progressive or environmental minded (especially the young evangelicals). We should not have a knee jerk reaction that every person of faith must be a neanderthal. We can recruit millions of people to our side – people who already respect the Earth, and have every reason to expect us to respect their faith.
The government should give subsidies and incentives to green industry that wants to locate in Detroit. Detroit got us through WWII, and its muscle should help avert THIS century’s biggest challenge: catastrophic climate chaos. Obama WILL put the government on the problem-solvers in the economy – IF we demand it and help Congressional leaders and the new administration take action. Ultimately, in a democracy, it is up to the people to bring the best out in our elected officials. :)
You got left and right populists right now! Ready for an eco-populist coalition. I like that term! Clean Energy Corps sounds like a great, sexy, powerful idea. Is there a buzz yet about Green Jobs Act?
What do you think of Obama’s cabinet choices? The ones you will be involved with look promising?
I sure hope so! :)
And speaking of green economy, I may be building a green house in the next year or so for my sister who is retiring and moving back to the states and selling her 15th century renovated apartment in Florence. This should be fun. I’ll be looking for all the green build strategies, materials and systems and of course sources and references.
Most of the jobs are “middle-skilled” jobs – meaning that you don’t have to have a college degree to get them. Some of the training programs are as short as 6-9 weeks (e.g., installing solar panels).
To get a sense of the money to job ration: every $1 million spent on weatherization of buildings and homes creates about 12 jobs – and pays for itself in cost savings in just 2-4 years.
For more information, use a search engine to find Green Recovery report from the Center for American Progress. [link added]
Diary on that subject Please that would be fun to read:)
How did you get turned onto this path, Van? Did you get a Eureka moment or was it more inductive? Community activism? College experiences? Special mentor or teacher? What fuels the engine of your hope and confidence?
What are the major obstacles to the momentum besides corporate self interest?
Very good point! I will raise this with Joel Rogers (the guru of all things green-related in the world of energy efficiency). I know he will have a more comprehensive answer, but I think it is just a matter of making sure that the law prohibits those kinds of pass-alongs. Thanks for pointing out that danger!
We need to change the way we power our buildings and our machines. That is the clean energy revolution. And we also need to change the way we power our bodies. That is the local, organic food revolution. Everywhere that we can grow food without pesticides, we should. We need to bring back the old WWII victory gardens. One important thing we need to do is STOP using huge amounts of gas and oil to do industrial-scale farming, stop using pesiticide-poisons derived from petroleum, and stop trucking all the produce across the country and back. That would make us – and our planet – a LOT healthier.
I like the way you think:)
One problem for government buildings is that often – by law or by practice – the CAPITAL cost for a building comes out of a separate budget than the OPERATING costs. So we don’t get the benefit of those savings. We do dumb stuff like this all the time: to save money on school lunches, we serve our kids CRAP. But nobody is calculating the catastrophic long-term costs to the public of obesity, diabetes, etc.
We have to redo the way our accounting systems work – so that we can COUNT what really counts.
I am not up on schools lately, but I read a funny article in the NYT about how kids were making their parents nuts calling them on their energy-wasting unconsciousness.
I used to teach in an alernate high school, and if that type of square peg, disillustioned kid could have his or her “resourcefulness” channelled, and have a noble career down the road that would be wonderful. I hope the school systems embrace this project.
That’s a good idea. I certainly keep a record of how this all unfolds. As an architect I never expected to do any more design since the economy when in the toilet. And lo and behold my sister comes along and want us to live together and suggests I find a house and then I said let’s build a green one and so here go.
She retires nov 09 so I have 11 months to design plan and figure this thing out… and the financing too.
Are there any “green consultants” who are like project managers for these projects? I know some energy consultants, but it seems that the “genre” is still in its infancy and disorganized. There are so many aspects to green building, from alt energy sources, reclaimed materials, energy storage and being off the grid and so on. YIKES
You are right; besides we don’t HAVE the money to throw around any more. Every program needs to be well-monitored. YEs, some mistakes are inevitable, and people need room to try things and be innovative. But we enviros really need to be as respectful of public dollars as we are of public lands.
Beautifully writteen, thank you Elisa.
I agree.
One turn off about owning a home has been the maintenance – painting, mowing a lawn and shoveling snow and so forth. I intend to have a home with none of that. It’s a waste of time and energy and resources. Paint ICK.
That game about taxes and the federal budget
http://marketplace.publicradio…..dget_hero/
They have the same problem they don’t calculate the cost or benefit to society just the cost to the government. Its very narrow minded of them.
Obama has made three Cabinet choices that I love: Melody Barnes and Hilda Solis (both of whom I had the honor of knowing before they were appointed), plus Carol Browner.
Ask Van Jones maybe about green consultants? I’m glad you will do the Diary who knows if the market turns around I might get some ideas for my own house.
Hey, Van – I’m with you on the weatherizing, but from the standpoint of utilities taking on the job of weatherizing, the staff people are no longer there. With deregulation, utilities across the country have unloaded millions of workers (I work for one regional electric and gas supplier and I can tell you that we are 70% smaller than we were 10 years ago for this reason. I would like to suggest that using local unemployed people, getting them trained and having them do the wreck outs and installations is a better idea.
Thanks for the down-to-earth approach, still I have to ask, any mention of vertical farms?
It’s a long story. But the short version is that, in looking for positive alternatives for urban youth, I was trying to find a part of the economy about which I could be excited. Fast food jobs were not cutting it. I discovered the green economy (solar energy, organic food, fair trade, etc.), and I decided that we should have a green economy in this country that Dr. KING would be proud of – an inclusive, green economy, strong enough to lift people out of poverty.
Green Jobs for teenagers in the summertime and holiday breaks maybe?
We need a program of education about conservation. Most people still think you don’t save energy if you turn the thermostat down. Why aren’t there commercials about saving energy?
I agree. :)
Bush is still in charge?
Or even during the school year as career education projects. I could see kids having self esteem lift being able to educate and update others.
Great comment!
I just bought your book.
SUch consultants abound. I assume you are already plugged in with the US Green Building Council?
Thanks for the positive feedback on that one. It sums up the main problem in US politics – the main barrier to us building the power that we need.
A number of the experimental schools in the NYC system are job training academies, for kids who don’t want or aren’t suited to the academic route – if there were green collar jobs waiting for them the way blue collar jobs used to be, it would make a big difference to a lot of kids.
I like it green work program jobs that aside from pay might provide credit as a vocational class perhaps and the kids could get academic credit in science for doing reports about how their jobs will help save the world.
Yes. I am getting pumped about the potential of this! And if those very kids could get in on this vanguard. And I love that green jobs can’t be outsourced. :)
Good point. The challenge is getting the “on-bill payback” going. In other words, one way to do massive retrofits at scale is to have property owners pay back the cost of the work, directly on their energy bills, out of the cost SAVINGS they will enjoy. Without the utility companies, then the cost must be recouped some other way – possibly on property tax bills, or whatever. Utility companies need federal dollars to either staff up or contract out the initial work. And they may need a strong nudge from the feds to get into this business, at all.
The fact that this is a whole new domain, means that there is not a tired old status quo with the kids feeling like they are at the bottom of the “totem” to long-experience mentors. Their apprenticeship can feel more valuable. Win/win.
I don’t think i mention vertical farms in my book. But I am a believer in them – and rooftop gardens and edible walls, too, by the way. We should cover every square inch of available space with green stuff and solar panels. Flying over cities, looking down from directly above, should look like flying over farmland – except for the roads and a lot of sparkly solar panels.
Well, while you are at it, Van – it might be a really good idea to have someone take a hard look at FERC and the whole deregulation mess — consumers certainly have not saved any money on their bills; utilities are no longer doing the maintenance and repair they used to, and with all the wind in the world, we don’t have a grid big enough to bring much of it at all online – utilities are not building/expanding infrastructure. We need a much bigger and more clever hose out there.
Touch of the poet! :)
You are right. We need more education. We also need better technology. If we had smart metering, then people could SEE how much energy they are using on a small screen in the kitchen. WHy is the meter totally unreadable – and on the OUTSIDE of the house. That is a legacy from generations ago. If people could see – in dollars and sense – exactly how much energy they were using, people would be much more aggressive about saving. The problem is: you get one data point a month, and it is called a bill. We are using energy all day, and we need up-to-the-second data to be better and smarter about how we do that.
I’m just loosely piggybacking on SanderO’s comment, are there any “green” associations out there?
OT, competitors routinely belong to associations, usually, but not always, headquartered in DC. I’m interested if you think “associations” might be an appropriate vehicle for getting some of your great ideas across?
OT, another way to go at it is unions. The UAW might be a good place to start, because they’re looking for work for so many of their laid-off employees. They might be interested in some of your excellent analysis/ideas.
My wife thanks you. :)
I am not since my green interest is / has been mostly political as I didn’t have the opportunity to practice this. I will contact Maya Lin who I know is deep into green building and she is local here in NYC.
Right, but I think the indoor meter should show a 24 hour moving average, not just the minute-by-minute reading. Otherwise people will still fall for the illusion that they are wasting energy when they get home from work and turn the heat back up.
I centainly think video documentation of the entire process from conception and financing to design and sourcing, engineering and so forth through construction would make a good “show” on the tele. I may have to get me a video camera and some production skills as well. And there’s youtube too.
You are 100 percent right about that.
You can build a house which has no energy input except solar even in Germany. I intend to do one in NYC next year.
I love the UAW, and also the Laborers Union. They are both highly receptive to these ideas. There are a lot of associations out there; one really cool one is called ACORE, in the solar biz.
The smart metering crowd could benefit from YOUR smarts. Use a search engine to find them. Great insight!
Is there a link to Keep The Stimulus Clean?
Yes I’m hearing the “shovel ready” stuff is largely crap.
The grid and highways are fine and dandy, but we each need to be independent and not rely on these vulnerable high maintenance networks. I’m striving to get OFF the grid… reduce the footprint so to speak. Go invisible!
FWIW, just fyi, here’s a low-tech, urban link to someone who’s been trying to get vertical farming off the ground, Will Allen of Growing Power.
Here’s another not-for-profit, but more high tech approach from Dickson Despommier, Ph.D.Vertical Farming.
I agree that we need more documentation and better story-telling on this whole approach. Most people still think that “green jobs” are just fantasy jobs or hype. We need to show many more people with green hard hats and work boots on – going out to fix America.
We don’t need to build roads and highways. We need to build RAIL systems. Get away from burning fuel and paving paradise and flying allover at the drop of a hat. Ed Begley isn’t flying. Neither will I.
I was trying to work with a builder called Green Street who I found from their online vid of a project. It was impressive. Our JV never took off. I know some green consultants and I am about to get my feet wet. Watch out frogs!
Your book is helping with outreach obviously from your being here today. Any documentary commentary type things in the offing? Your own “An Inconvenient Truth”? And hopefully the Obama administration will hit the ground running on stuff like this (to God’s ear!). And the country has such economic jitters, it would nice to have a sense of “change” to new priorities and values, a healthier life style and part career foundation, rather than the troubled status quo. Curious to check out your website. Good luck and thank you for your work and the inspiration.
I have no idea where John Edwards is after his problems, but this sounds so in alignment with his agenda, his populism, awareness of the 2 Americas.
If you are interested in any of this stuff, you can always check out the following websites:
http://www.GreenForAll.org (especially the resources section)
http://www.VanJones.net
http://www.GreenJobsNow.com
http://www.DreamReborn.org
We do need to be sensible about what we repair as far as roads. We kinda went crazy with highways like outside of DC coming down I95 – that’s insane!
Someone is working on a documentary called Green Shall Overcome. I am hoping it will be good. There is a lot to do, from an educational standpoint.
Any numbers is spending on rail better than spending on hybrid or electric cars? For the long haul yes but when for the short haul when isn’t it practical.
I think a high speed freight train might be a good idea trucka use a lot of fuel.
Thanks for the links. I bookmarked them and will explore.
Thanks.
Maybe this is another “strange bedfellows” opportunity? If some enterprising liberal/progressive/strange bedfellow had some way to rate the projects, separate the totally unacceptable, from the just plain lousy, it would really help. It would also help if we could do it on a state by state basis.
We need to make sure that we don’t use the next stimulus to FEED the very beast we are FIGHTING. That’s why talking about a green recovery program is the best and smartest thing that we can do, as a nation. Fund rail and mass transit to the future, not highways to nowhere.
How much of the “infrastructure” re-building will overlap with “green” jobs?
What we need to do in my opinion is make cars for short hauls and drop the highway concept – high speed and long range. So we should develop cars with renewable energy input.
On the other hand we should turn many of the highways into railways! When we have a really good rail system the load on the highways will drop away. We need to really plan what highways we need to keep and how much traffic do we want on them.
If you look at the LIE on Wrong Island, it should have been a high speed railway to riverhead. Now that makes sense.
It totally depends; we will see on Tuesday, I think, when the stimulus proposal comes out (I think).
Here is the link on the clean stimulus: check it out…
http://action.foe.org/t/8489/c….._KEY=26352
Thanks, everyone! … I hope you all have a great new year! :)
This green thing needs to also come from the building department and code people. IN NYC you cannot use all thatr roof real estate for solar collector! How crazy is that?
It’s none of my business, but I’m a firm believer that the “worker deservers their wage.” With endorsements from Pelosi and Gore, (glad you have those prominently displayed on your website, excellent marketing) you may have significant traction with foundations who might consider supporting parts of your work.
OT, CNBC, NBC’s business channel, is always looking for guests during their programming. Usually they want people on who think Herbert Hoover was a liberal. Because you’re talking about jobs, however, your publisher, might get some traction in getting you an interview. Perhaps this will lead to other ideas that are better, more realistic???
As we come to the end of this Book Salon,
Van, Thank you for stopping by the Lake and spending the afternoon with us discussing your book and your work.
Elisa, Thank you for Hosting this great Book Salon.
Everyone, this is a great book, if you haven’t bought one yet, there is a link above.
Thanks all.
Thank you, Van, for this book and all that you do. Also, many thanks to Jane, Christy, Beverly and all the readers at Firedoglake for having us. Happy new year all!
Thanks for your work and the links and the book of course.
Agreed
Thanks so much! Great book salon!
Agree, fwiw, stewardship of the earth was a key theological insight of John Calvin (1509 – 1564).
New post upstairs