Van Jones: Quotes on Green

On the Grassroots Success of His Book: "Jones ultimately attributes the success of the book's marketing campaign to what he calls the 'invisible network of networks,' and he thinks this 'network effect' is here to stay. 'There are too many products coming from too many directions, people ignore the hype,' he said. 'But if you're in a network that's about respect and reciprocity, people will take action.'"

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Why the Hood and the Elite Need to Meet: "Among African-Americans, you have many who will ask you, 'What do polar bears and hybrid cars have to do with my situation?'... And then, mainstream environmentalists will say, 'What do prisons and failing schools have to do with the environment?'... We talk about 'disposability' -- the idea that we have throw-away species and throw-away resources. We also think that we have throw-away children and throw-away neighborhoods."

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Why Green is a Black Issue: "The only reason that we have the unsustainable accounting that we have right now is because incinerators, dumping grounds, and sacrifice zones were put where poor people live. It would never have been allowed if you had to put all the incinerators and nasty stuff in rich people's neighborhoods; we'd have had a sustainable economy a long time ago... We don't want to be first and worst with all the toxins and all the negative effects of global warming, and then benefit last and least from all the breakthroughs in solar, wind energy, organic food, all the positives. We want an equal share, an equitable share, of the work wealth and the benefits of the transition to a green economy."

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The Future for Our Children: "From the point of view of planetary survival, every job needs to be a green job... there will be a need to focus much more on math and science and the need for technological innovation and invention. We're focused on those young people who may not have college in their future. We want to make sure that we bring back vocational arts. We see a need for vocational skills training, a need for a well-paid green-collar workforce in the United States that can install solar panels, weatherize, retrofit buildings, do rainwater management, and construct buildings that are smarter with regard to energy and water. We think that the sooner those values get inculcated in young people, the better off we'll be."

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Seeing and Making the Connections: "If we can get these youth in on the ground floor of the solar industry now, where they can be installers today, they'll become managers in five years and owners in 10. And then they become inventors... The green economy has the power to deliver new sources of work, wealth and health to low-income people -- while honoring the Earth. If you can do that, you just wiped out a whole bunch of problems. We can make what is good for poor black kids good for the polar bears and good for the country."

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Moving From Consumption to Creation: "Well, for too long, we powered the U.S. economy with consumption, not production... massive debt, not smart savings... and environmental destruction, not restoration. Those days are over. To green the economy, we stop borrowing and start building. We stop relying on credit from overseas; we start relying on creativity here at home. And we generate jobs by protecting America's beauty, not destroying it. We can turn this breakdown into a breakthrough -- if we make clean energy the cornerstone of the new economy, not credit cards. Green-collar jobs will save our economy, not just the Earth."

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Praising Obama's Stimulus Plan: "It's an especially exciting moment for me and my colleagues at Green For All, the Apollo Alliance, the Workforce Alliance and the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights. The stimulus includes $500 million for green jobs training -- funding we've been trying to get for two years. That means that the recovery package won't just stimulate the green economy. It will also make sure that the green economy includes pathways out of poverty for low-income people and people of color."

Ed Andrieski, AP

Green Jobs as Prosperity's Key: "Green-collar jobs are not fictional or far-off. The Center for American Progress and PERI just put out a 'Green Recovery' report. It showed that a $100 billion federal investment would create two million new, green-collar jobs -- in just TWO years. That's just helping America deploy our existing, off-the-shelf technologies and proven solutions. No technological breakthroughs needed. And some of that pays for itself, in energy savings. So when you think about the green economy, don't think about Buck Rogers. Think about Joe Sixpack -- putting on a green hard hat and going off to fix America. Think about Rosie the Riveter -- manufacturing solar arrays and wind turbines."

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Jones' New Position in the Obama Administration: "The title is special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation... As we begin to move toward a clean-energy economy, we have an opportunity to have equal opportunity from the very beginning, making sure all Americans can take part... Part of my job description does have me available to advocate publicly, but I think we're going to be focusing primarily internally for the near term... I'm the green-jobs handyman. I'm there to serve. I'm there to help as a leader in the field of green jobs, which is a new field."

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Van Jones Has Arrived in Washington: "Last Friday, I had the immense honor of speaking at the first meeting of Vice President Joe Biden's new White House Task Force for Middle Class Working Families. Vice President Biden launched his Task Force with a discussion of how green jobs could help build a strong middle class. And he asked me to chime in from Green For All. What a measure of how far our green jobs movement has come. We've brought to light real solutions to the economic and environmental problems facing the country. And we've done it so well and so beautifully that the White House itself wants to hear what we have to say -- and wants to make sure everyone else is listening, too."

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