Green Job Corps
The coming transition to a low carbon economy is going to need a lot of retrofitting and new installations -- a green collar work force. You can't outsource installation of solar panels, new grid connections, beefed up insulation, urban forestation. New jobs: it's one big piece of the economic opportunity embedded inside solving climate.
The City of Oakland is the first to see the light. Starting in 2008, it will start training young workers in a local Green Jobs Corps, a model for a national program that is now developing, not only to solve climate, but also to lift Americans out of poverty.
Green for All is the name of the national initiative, the on-ramp for disadvantaged communities to participate in solving climate and sharing in the benefits.
Van Jones of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights is a driving force behind the effort. "We have the chance to lift tens of millions of people out of economic desperation and place them on green pathways out of poverty," he wrote in a project description publicly recognized at the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative.
Both houses of Congress are already listening.
Where the Action Is
The US House of Representatives has passed the Green Jobs Act of 2007, allocating $125 million for nationwide green collar job training programs. The allocation will be enough to train about 30,000 workers. Companion legislation has passed the US Senate and the measure is now sitting with the Congressional conference committee.
It's step one of a broader campaign Green for All is conducting to advocate for program expansion, provide technical assistance and public education.
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