Late Monday afternoon, the White House announced Van Jones has been selected by President Obama to become a special advisor for green jobs, enterprise and innovation. Mr. Jones has been a leading advocate for "green collar" jobs, having founded the non-profit organization Green for All and authored the NYT best-seller The Green Collar Economy. Mr. Jones and his staff have been working tirelessly to push the government (at all levels) and private sector to train (or retrain) workers in green collar jobs, helping to save both the failing economy and the environment. More on Green for All:
Green For All is a national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty.
By advocating for local, state and federal commitment to job creation, job training, and entrepreneurial opportunities in the emerging green economy – especially for people from disadvantaged communities – Green For All fights both poverty and pollution at the same time.
What We Believe
Green For All believes a shift to a clean, green economy can improve the health and well-being of low-income people, who suffer disproportionately from cancer, asthma and other respiratory ailments in our current pollution-based economy. Such a shift can also create and expand entrepreneurial, wealth-building opportunities for American workers who need new avenues of economic advance.
In other words: we believe that the national effort to curb global warming and oil dependence can simultaneously create well-paid green-collar jobs, safer streets and healthier communities.
No stranger to the netroots, Van Jones was the keynote speaker at Netroots Nation in July 2008. His speech can be viewed in its entirety at the Netroots Nation video archive.
More recent video of Mr. Jones, appearing on the green jobs panel hosted by Vice President Biden in early March, can be found here.
An inspiration and a true visionary, he is perfect for this role in the Obama administration - at a time when we need it most.
Congratulations, Van Jones!
Update: A terrific video of Van Jones addressing 12,000 youth activists at the Powershift 09 conference in DC on March 1st: