Say what you will about New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman's foreign policy views, he's always kept a close eye on the shifting dynamics in the global job market. In keeping with this ongoing interest, last October, Friedman devoted a column to the work of Van Jones, an Oakland-based activist who has been working for years to foster so-called "green-collar jobs" in his community and beyond.
So what's a green-collar job? At the most basic level, it's environmentally-oriented labor. And as Jones noticed, it's increasingly in demand.
His movement is based around the idea that these emerging green industries should be leveraged to address issues of unemployment and inequality. He wants to see workers from low-income communities learning how to weatherize buildings, how to build and install solar panels, how to fix electric engines. And as he points out, green jobs are mostly local jobs -- unlike in many trades, this type of work is less likely to be off-shored and therefore more dependable in the long run.
While Jones has been gaining exposure in environmental circles for many years now, I hadn't heard of him prior to Friedman's column last fall (which was forwarded to me by numerous friends). In the six months since, his movement has gained some real steam and last week this whirlwind brought him to Chicago, where he delivered a terrific keynote address at the Delta Institute's annual "Partners In Change" fundraiser. You can listen to the speech below:
Jones also appeared on WTTW's Chicago Tonight last Thursday. Watch it:
To learn more about Jones' work, check out the website for his national Green For All campaign.
Finally, I urge everyone to read up on the Delta Insitute's efforts to encourage environmental protection and green development in the Great Lakes region. To give one example, they're currently working on creating a Building Material Reuse Center here in Chicago:
[T]his center will collect donated used building materials from deconstruction projects, renovations and other sources for resale to the general public at a very low cost. Delta is partnering with The Reuse People, a California-based not-for-profit organization that has established a building deconstruction operation in Chicago to provide an ongoing source of used building materials. The benefits of building deconstruction are gaining recognition across the country, and the BMRC will be the first of its kind in Chicago to provide a resale opportunity for these materials.
Audio courtesy of the Delta Institute.
Post new comment