The Green Collar Economy - Book Review
Environmentalist Van Jones' Book Proposes a Green New Deal
Dec 5, 2008
The first book by an African-American environmentalist to become a New York Times best-seller, The Green Collar Economy is a detailed proposal for a green new deal that will, in Jones’ words, ensure the approaching “green wave lifts all boats.”
Anyone up to speed on global warming knows why the country needs a national green initiative, and soon. And, as anyone who has glanced at a newspaper headline in the past two years knows, the need for a new economic strategy is just as urgent. The proposal designed by Jones and his organization, Green for All, deftly addresses the dual crisis facing the U.S., with a sustainability plan that also bridges the chasm between the rich and the poor.
New Green Words for a New Movement
The sustainability movement has given birth to catchphrases like “carbon neutral” and “LEED-certified.” To that green lexicon Jones has appended new words like “eco-apartheid” and “eco-equity.”
The book’s first half lays out an argument against eco-apartheid, a harmful practice within the environmental movement that has separated the ecological “haves” from the ecological “have-nots.” Drawing from various experiences as a social activist and an environmentalist, Jones spells out the ways conservationists have excluded minorities from green campaigns, thereby ignoring the evils of environmental racism.
As a result of these mistakes, environmental groups have missed several opportunities to build a grand coalition. But a smart strategy based on “eco-equity” could steer the green movement back in the right direction. Two of the principles of eco-equity—Equal Protection for All and Equal Opportunity for All—resurrect the central tenets of the civil rights movement. The third principle, Reverence for All Creation, is one that virtually all contingents can embrace, regardless of their race or political beliefs.
“Seeds Already Sprouting”
The most encouraging aspect about Jones’ plan is that with proper government funding and incentives, a green new deal need only build upon the successes of local pilot programs. Green job initiatives throughout the country have been incubating for some time, making humble gains in restoring local ecosystems and creating jobs that didn't exist before.
A resident of Oakland, Jones has coordinated with groups in the Bay Area like Solar Richmond, a nonprofit that trains the underemployed to install solar panels on homes. There are plenty of other stories about successful efforts across the country. Several local programs train and employ at-risk youth and the underemployed in the ecological areas of energy efficiency, wind, solar, agriculture, waste reclamation, water, and transport.
By spotlighting an urban farming program in Chicago, a wind turbine manufacturing plant in eastern Pennsylvania, and a green worker cooperative in the South Bronx, Jones makes it clear that the green-collar movement is not a one-man effort. Coalitions like the Apollo Alliance have plenty of partners and organizations who continually gather more manpower and more momentum.
Amistad Meets the Titanic
Buried in the middle of The Green Collar Economy is an illustrative metaphor of our current situation. Jones imagines that Earth is the Amistad, the slave ship overtaken by its captives in 1839. He argues that over the last century, racial justice advocates have expanded their powers so that minorities have a tighter hold on the steering wheel. However, what was once believed to be a sturdy ship is more like the Titanic. "The entire planetary ship is threatened with going down," he writes.
The climate crisis is universal, but with a green collar economy, perhaps the burden of resolving it will be universally shared. Such a mass movement is what we need.
