Green Collar Jobs: The Next American Revolution

The United States is a stubborn, selfish nation. That may seem like a fairly blunt statement to make, especially from someone who may want to venture into the political realm someday, but it is true at its core. If we, as a nation, are going to mobilize behind one issue, there had better be an outcome from our decision to change the status quo which benefits us directly. Otherwise, you should not expect us to selflessly throw our support behind the issue in question.

Such is the case with global climate change. Thomas Friedman highlights an excellent point in his article, "The Green Collar Solution," when he discusses an environmentalist's attempts to persuade rural Nebraskans to fight for the protection of polar bears. Many people in this country have never seen a polar bear up close, nor do they understand their impact on the ecosystem. Why should someone in Omaha, NE care about this issue? With climate change, most people are unaware of how it affects them directly. As a result, they are more concerned about issues which affect them on a daily basis: rising energy prices, the rising costs of goods and services, and the lack of job growth in once-prominent industrial states, such as Michigan or Ohio. Climate change, therefore, is tossed on the backburner and left to sizzle, presumably until it erupts into a large fire we didn't see coming because we didn't pay enough attention to it in the first place.

However, Van Jones has done something which I think few environmentalists have been able to do, and that is make the issue of climate change more personal. Gone is the same old rhetoric from dry, tree-hugging liberals such as Al Gore and Mo Udall about melting ice caps and dying polar bears; instead, the discussion has evolved into a bread-and-butter debate about job growth and economic investments which, if implemented in a precise way, would both 1) help average people live their daily lives, and 2) protect the planet at the same time.

If an environmentalist went into Youngstown, OH--a city once known for its booming industrial factories but is no longer the beacon of economic success it once was-- and told many of its citizens that the green collar jobs movement will not only bring employment and economic revitalization to these communities, I have a feeling very few people would shun the idea. The same could be said in practically ever corner of the country, from the rolling hills of the Northeast to the dry desert plains of the Southwest. Our stagnant economy has caused people to ask for creative solutions to many of our problems, and most would admit that any significant investment into economic revitalization which would create jobs and reduce energy prices is a good investment. Wind, solar, clean coal, even nuclear power-- the creation of an expansive energy infrastructure would create thousands of jobs and offer economic incentives to communities across the country.

I think Van Jones has drafted a sound blueprint for confronting climate change among certain constituencies, especially those who are looking for alternative career options in this economic crisis. Moreover, he has offered economic incentives at the personal and community level which puts job creation first and climate change second-- a sacrifice which, at least in this respect, must be made if we ever hope to take a united stand against the elements which have contributed to human-induced environmental impact.