BIG GREEN
Now that Van Jones is out, is that plan still in?
2009-11-03
By Kevin Chappell

EDITOR’s NOTE: Just as EBONY was going to press, Jones resigned from his position. The activist, who rose to prominence because of his fiery speeches on environmental justice issues, came under attack because of some of the remarks he made while at Green For All. In his resignation letter, Jones said “opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide.” Even so, the fight for clean energy—and the White House blueprint that he helped create—will continue. “I am proud to have been able to make a contribution to the clean energy future,” he said. “I will continue to do so, in the months and years ahead.”

He’s the modern-day Eli Whitney and the 21st century James Watt. Instead of spurring the Industrial Revolution by creating the cotton gin or improving the steam engine, Van Jones is perhaps the person most responsible for creating a blueprint for America’s Green Revolution.

The founder and CEO of Green For All, the grassroots organization that gained an international following on the Internet by pushing for socioeconomic fairness in green jobs legislation, Jones joined the White House as the Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation to work with President Obama, who, he says, has a “rock-solid commitment” to create an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty.

Jones sat down with EBONY Senior Editor Kevin Chappell to discuss President Obama’s agenda and why African-Americans can’t afford to not go green.

EBONY: How would you define a green economy?

JONES: One that is healthy for your pocketbook, but is also healthy for the planet. In the past, we had a false distinction, a false choice. [There were those who said to] focus on the economy—even if you created pollution—as long as you were getting those dollars, it didn’t matter. And [then there were those who] said, “Oh, we don’t want all of that pollution, so let’s not have any dollars and we’ll just be barefoot in a cave.” Well, I reject both of those as false choices. Now we have the technology. We can grow the economy, but do it in a way that not only increases our wealth but also improves our health. That’s what clean energy is: solar power, wind power, hydro, advanced biofuels, geothermal, all of these new technologies. What they do is let the lights come on, but no pollution comes out of a power plant.  So we now have the technology. We are beyond that old debate of either you are going to be good for the economy or good for the environment. In fact, if you want to be good for the economy, the best way to do that is to use the new technologies that are good for the environment. Often, people will talk about solar and wind [energy] and those kinds of things, and there are a lot of jobs coming [in those areas]. But sometimes we get blinded by the glitzy part and we overlook that big set of more humble opportunities that exist. But there is a lot of money to be made, and a lot of difference to be made just making sure that we aren’t wasting energy before we even talk about making new kinds of energy.

EBONY: What are the top three things you want to accomplish in your position?

JONES: I want to see every home in America upgraded and retrofitted so people are not wasting so much energy and paying such high energy bills. The president has been so passionate about that. On the campaign trail, he said that [he wants] to weatherize a million homes a year. That would be a tenfold increase from what we have been doing.  I’ve been given the assignment to sort out the policy road map to get us there. That’s one piece. Another piece is [getting] rural America to participate in some of these opportunities. Often, the rural part of America says, “This has nothing to do with me.” Then, we have this climate bill that has to pass. It would change the rules so that the clean forms of energy are the most profitable forms of energy. And that would open up tremendous job opportunities, entrepreneurial opportunities. Our energy sector has been stuck for so long. I don’t know how many people who read EBONY even have jobs in the energy sector because it has been the same locked, stuck game for so long. What if we had as much innovation there as we’ve had in our information technology sector? If you look at the past 10 to 15 years, we’ve had so much, just an explosion of new ideas, new innovators, new products. … That’s because they got the laws right and the investments right, and they created [the] information boom. Well, what if we created an energy boom [through which] regular folks can get new kinds of jobs? … So, if you really shake up the possibilities in regard to the energy sector, everybody from the GEDs to the Ph.D.s could have a new job and new opportunities. We have a climate bill that is really focused on this. And the president’s opponents have done everything they could to make it seem like something negative by saying that it’s going to be a tax. But the bill is designed to protect the consumer and to really put the weight of U.S. policy behind our problem solvers, the people who are really trying to bring forth new ideas.

EBONY: Where is the climate bill now?

JONES: It passed the House. It’s in the Senate. They will take it up in [the fall]. It’s going to be a challenge because [there has been a great deal of] fear-mongering that has been promoted by people who really believe that we should stay in the past. When they finish with all of their objections, what’s their solution? We should be home growing our energy. We shouldn’t be relying on other countries to do for us what we can do for ourselves, whether it’s bringing dirty energy from the Middle East or solar panels that are being made in China. Let’s make the stuff here. We have tremendous [energy] wealth in this country. Wind energy off our Plains states [and] coasts and in the Great Lakes area is enough to meet 20 percent of all our energy needs. Just with the wind. You haven’t burned one piece of wood, one piece of coal. Then you have the sunshine. [We] have all of these resources in America that we haven’t been using. We’ve relied on the same old tired systems from 40 years ago, 50 years ago, 100 years ago. President Obama wants to update them.

EBONY: What are you doing to make sure that African-Americans can take advantage of the green economy?

JONES: Historically disadvantaged communities need access to training dollars, so that [taking advantage of green jobs can be] a conversation that is happening not in just one part of America, but all across America. So the most important thing that the administration has done was to put half a billion dollars into something called the “Green Jobs Act” in the recovery package. [Secretary of Labor] Hilda Solis has the responsibility for getting that money out. So that’s a piece. But another piece is that if you look at some of the sectors that have been hardest hit, the auto sector for example, you see a concentration in those sectors of … African-Americans and Hispanics. That means that our effort to really help those sectors come back will have a positive impact on [minorities]. For example, in the Green Jobs Act in particular, $50 million is set aside specifically for autoworkers who have been affected by the downturn in the auto sector. Another piece of this is not necessarily working to pass laws, but just trying to make sure that people have information. There have been a number of African-American business associations and Latino business associations that have come to the White House and the Department of Energy to get briefings to understand the opportunities. Knowledge is power and will have a long-term advantage. But the African-American community—and all communities—will have to meet this opportunity halfway, as far as taking personal [and community] responsibility to get educated. It’s just as easy to google “green jobs” as it is to google “Beyoncé” or “Usher.”… In almost every major city, there have been conferences on green jobs and clean energy. Anybody can go to those conferences, yet a lot of times I don’t see enough diversity.

EBONY: Studies show that African-Americans have been slower than Whites in embracing a green lifestyle. Is that true? And what have the president and the first lady done to change the mindset of African-Americans?

JONES: You can’t legislate a lifestyle. All you can do is have a president like Barack Obama, and a first lady like Michele Obama, leading by example. You’re not going to see Michele Obama feeding her kids a bunch of junk food. You’ll see her in an organic garden feeding her kids healthy food. Barack Obama is not just talking about other people having a healthy lifestyle. He gets up every day and works out. They are making things that used to be corny [seem] cool [because] they are so cool in doing it. They are leading by example. Having an African-American president who is more green than any of the presidents who came before him sends a big signal. A lot of times people think, ‘I’m concerned about what’s happening here in the neighborhood. I don’t have time to worry about the polar bears and the rain forest. Those are extraneous issues.’ I think this president is showing, because he’s such a holistic thinker, that you can protect the children in the neighborhood at the same time that you are protecting the planet’s health. I also think that a lot of people are starting to come out of the closet now. People in the media say “green,” but most people in disadvantaged communities say “healthy.” Erykah Badu [has been] living that healthy lifestyle for years. There has been a constituency in the African-American community that has never been given its due, people who would get on you about eating that pork chop and deep-frying so much stuff. And that was before “green” was even around. We know how to conserve; waste not, want not. That’s what green living is all about.

EBONY: What advice would you give to young African-Americans pursuing careers in the new green economy?

JONES: Study and focus on being a game changer. Even if you don’t go to college, there’s a professor at a college in every city teaching this stuff. You may not be able to afford to be a student enrolled there, but that doesn’t stop you from walking on the campus, talking to that professor and saying, “I can’t afford to go here, but who would you recommend I talk to, what books would you recommend that I read?” Many times, getting in is more important than getting in at a high level, even if you have to volunteer, even if you have to do the crappiest, smelliest job.  

EBONY: What do you say to people who say that it’s too expensive to be green?

JONES: We’ll walk past the healthy choice to get something that is not healthy, and a lot of times that healthy choice is cheaper. It is true that some high-end eco-choices may be out of the price range for moderate-income people, but the best green choices will save you money in the short and long terms. A salad is cheaper than some big processed, lard-laden choice, and in the long term your health bill will be lower. The other thing is that disadvantaged people have to focus on finances differently. A lot of times we won’t buy that compact fluorescent light or hybrid car because we are looking at the initial cost rather than the lifetime cost of that choice. The wise people in this economy play for the [short] and long terms. These green options give us a chance to start thinking, ‘Hey, wait a minute. I’m rushing to grab the cheapest product on the shelf. Let me stop and think whether this is the cheapest option. If I’m going to wind up spending twice as much, three or four times as much money between now and the end of the season trying to save a few pennies or even a dollar in initial cost, I’ve hurt my family. Financial literacy and eco-literacy go hand in hand. Being smart about the green in your pocket and the green for the earth go hand in hand. The more that you look into it, you will find that the wise healthy choice for your family and the wise healthy choice for your planet are almost always the same.