PSG and Van Jones

There are many proposed solutions to the current energy and environmental concerns. The Democratic Party is recommending a Cap and Trade system with wind and solar while The Republican Party is championing offshore oil and nuclear power, but both of these proposals seem to fall short (ok, one falls shorter than the other.) The Green Collar Economy, by Van Jones, is both an analysis of past environmental movements and a vision for the future of environmentalism and society in America. To Jones, environmentalism is more than just a stopgap measure applied at the end of a destructive cycle. Instead, Jones considers the greatest possibility of the next wave of environmentalism is a movement that both addresses the growing socioeconomic inequality and the rampant environmental destruction in America. The title of the book refers to what is now a fairly commonplace concept: The role of blue-collar workers on the production side of the green movement. This green economy will be similar to the current system but with an emphasis placed on the environment. This new emphasis will give a tool as simple as a caulk gun a new purpose weatherizing buildings and increasing energy efficiency.
Jones believes that through an environmentally conscious federal works program, the economy can make a significant shift. The final goal of this process is to build the economy and protect the environment at the same time.
Because he considers this movement to be a public works program in addition to an environmental movement, Jones presents a critique of similar movements in the past. From the conservation movement of Teddy Roosevelt to the FDR’s new deal, the needs of Blacks and immigrants have always been marginalized and silenced. For this reason, Jones is particularly interested in the role of minorities and poor Americans in the next green movement to see that history is not repeated. The difficulty in a collaboration between poor and wealthy Americans is that the two demographics are often concerned with different issues. While many working poor in America often care deeply about social justice concerns close to home such as pollution and asthma, the wealthy promote more distant concerns such as ice caps melting and deforestation. Through his analysis of the past, Jones illustrates the fact that environmentalism has historically been a movement of the elite rather than a movement of the people. It’s unfortunate that the two parties have not communicated because both the poor and the rich have many of the same concerns, but the only difference is that the poor are often already suffering from the effects of poor decisions. Examples include asthma and lead poisoning, but according to Jones, the most pressing social justice issue in the Black community is the penal system. This concern led Jones to eventually conceive the slogan, “Green Jobs, Not Jails” in order to link the two often distanced value systems and hopefully provide a productive alternative for the deplorable legacy of criminal justice in America. This is a message of the people – a message of proactive and inclusive investment in the future of our environment and social fabric.