This weekend Van Jones stepped down as the White House’s “Green Job Czar”. Despite my immediate sadness, I found a silver lining in the drama: green jobs have their first martyr, and with it, have moved beyond the realm of theory and into the realm of hard reality.
What more, Van Jones will likely reemerge as a prominent national figure who can work outside the system to support the stimulus funding he already helped architect and channel into the US economy. Indeed, given that the majority of funding plans are by now well laid and underway, VJ’s most important work is in some ways is already done: he’s provided us with the financial means to start our own green job revolution.
What work remains, remains for all of us to do: continuing to support green jobs legislation, using our purchasing power to push businesses to make responsible decisions, and ultimately working together to promote further global integration, instead of spending time lambasting the personalities the represent this global movement.
What the green jobs movement has lost in high-visibility leadership, it’s made up for by finding a rallying cry.
Here’s to a green future for all…
The next monumental reform coming is in energy.
Oil companies, natural gas explorers are forging ahead with
steam and strength while the renewable energy industry is waiting
for this health care fierce debate to come to a final close, the debate phase
is over and the time for final legislation is upon us. Once this is accomplished,
the next battlefield will be one where profits from earth warming, carbon producing, stale, smelly and old means of fossil fuel energy production fights for stagnation and against the clean renewables.
Are there any “green jobs” that are not in California, New York or the D of C?
OK…I count three.
I totally agree. People are way to fixated on the person and not the bigger picture. Van Jones is not the only person working for this, and we will move forward even if he has left his position.