Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Language Power Punch: Green For All and Van Jones

In a movement in desperate need of leadership, Van Jones and his team at Green For All address racial, environmental and climate justice with poignancy and bite. Still less than a year old, Green For All has made a significant mainstream impact helping the term ‘green collar jobs’ convey a new category of opportunities that battle climate change and lift people out of poverty.

There is a lot of racket out there in the world. Between the media, academia, industry and non-profits tons of opinions are flying around about carbon dioxide particulates, impacts of government policies on communities of color, and economic recessions. Each issue is horribly complex and could take thousands experts to address and explain. Green For All really stands out in this cacophony specifically because of its ability to tie these concepts together and powerful use of language. Read a couple quote bombs from Executive Director, Van Jones:

“We cannot drill and burn our way out because we will bake this planet. We can invent and invest our way out.”

"The chief moral obligation of the 21st Century is to build a green economy that is strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Those communities that were locked out of the last century's pollution-based economy must be locked into the new, clean and renewable economy. Our youth need green-collar jobs, not jails."

These quotes are absolutely fantastic! They provide understandable imagery and explain really complex energy and racial justice issues simply and beautifully adding tremendous integrity to the environmental and human rights fields. To read more amazing lyricism, just go to the front page of their website, its incredible. Or help support Green For All by signing up for a “I’m Ready!” event on September 27 and tell America that you want new low carbon energy investments and to pivot the economy in a better direction.

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