The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones

    Van Jones was able to deliver an abundant amount of information that is very vital to the reader without losing the appeal of the average person. Whether the reader is relatively fresh to the idea of a green economy or actively engaged in creating a green economy, Jones provided a wealth of solid arguments to get the readers thinking about the issue from all view points of society. The idea that we must understand the need to create green collar jobs to improve the economy and make green energy accessible for the lower classes as well as the middle and upper classes is a revolution in itself.

Here Jones begins with the economic value behind creating a green-collar economy in the reality check chapter when he states, "In 2006, renewable energy and energy-efficiency technologies generated 8.5 million new jobs, nearly $970 billion in revenue and more than $100 billion in industry profits." (pg. 5) Jones goes further into defining it for the middle class view point: "My definition of a green-collar job is this: it is a family-supporting, career-tracking job that directly contributes to preserving or enhancing environmental quality…We must ensure that all green-collar-job strategies provide opportunities for low-income people to take the first step on a pathway to economic self-sufficiency and prosperity." (pg. 12)

Jones does not stop at the economic value, but he also incorporates the ecological value when he brings in the real life ecological devastation of Katrina. Reading the story of Larry and Lorrie brought me back to the horrifying stories that were being reported, at the same time Jones did a terrific job at keeping my mind focused not just on the inhumanity of how our government responded but the dire need for a green-economy. Jones elaborates far more concisely here, "Stories from Katrina's aftermath demonstrate that the issues of poverty, climate destabilization, petrochemical poisons, and the vulnerabilities of an oil-based economy are not just petty obsessions of the politically correct crowd." (pg. 22) Jones deepens the guilt within my own heart as he continues to equate the real situation here: "The dollars that could have saved New Orleans were used to wage war in Iraq instead, a war undeniably linked to our dependency on the region's oil." (pg. 23) These two quotes hit two key points that Jones is making in the book and targets in his title, which is a green economy is essential in trying to survive our economy and our livelihoods on this earth.

While reading I couldn't help but notice how much he didn't fall into the blame game, as many liberalists tend to do, but gave clear connections through viable information without losing the reader in the process. Jones also continues to avoid the blame game and bring to light the effects of poor policy making here: "The catastrophe of New Orleans was not the result of a deliberate act of malice…however, the logical, necessary, and inevitable outcome of the kind of politics that both major parties have been promoting for two decades. In was a concrete manifestation of a mentality that says that we are not, in fact, our sisters' and brothers' keepers." (pg. 69) Even more shocking and tragic were his direct points here: "…Iraq all added up to one thing: a government too hollowed out to competently perform its basic functions in a crisis…The truth is that George W. Bush's presidency drowned in the floodwaters of Katrina." (pg. 69-70)