Green for All testifies before Congress
This is unrelated to the inauguration but a real sign of our times.
Oakland’s own Van Jones testified in the first hearing of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming on Thursday, urging them to green the stimulus plan, fully fund the Green Jobs Act and create a “Clean Energy Corps to retrofit millions of buildings – while giving community service opportunities, job training and employment to hundreds of thousands of people.”
Green For All and its director Van Jones want to “…connect the people who most need work with the work that most needs to be done, and fight pollution and poverty at the same time…”
“A hundred years from now,” Jones said in the hearing “students will study this Congress, and they will ask one question: Were you able to solve the problem? Were you able to able to deal with this twin crisis? How did you do it?
And you’re going to get a grade from our great-grandchildren: Yes or no. Pass or fail.”
Jones heads Green For All and if you don’t know his face and what they’re all about, get to know him. Global warming. National security. Energy independence. Economic innovation. All big issues to tackle. Jones and Green For All believe you can hit several birds with one stone of investment in green energy.
Their aim is to bring the green movement full circle and remind rich and poor alike of the dangerous future that lie ahead should nothing change. It’s translating global warming between the typical concerns of the wealthy like dying species, melting ice caps and shopping at Whole Foods to issues more relevant in low income areas like urban pollution and the catastrophes of Hurricane Katrina.
This video beautifully explains why it’s important to bridge that gap. Because when it transcends income, we can attack global warming from all fronts.
