green for all

Green for All is an organization whose goal is to build a green economy while simultaneously lifting citizens out of poverty. Green for All was founded by Van Jones, head of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, and was officially launched in September 2007 at the Clinton Global Initiative. [1]

The United Steelworkers (USW), the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Green for All and the Blue Green Alliance, a partnership of the USW and Sierra Club, have launched the national Green Jobs for America campaign [2].

Contents [hide] 1 History 2 The Green Jobs Act of 2007 3 The Dream Reborn 4 Personnel 5 References 6 Media 7 External links //

History

Green for All was founded by Van Jones after Jones grew increasingly concerned with issues of poverty and crime, as well as the lack of a solid infrastructure for "green" jobs. Rather than approach each issue separately, Jones decided to combine the two in a more unified vision and business model. [3]. The organization launched in September 2007 at the Clinton Global Initiative, when Jones appeared to announce Green for All's commitment to securing one billion dollars by 2012 to create "green pathways out of poverty" for 250,000 people in the United States. Jones also added that the Ella Baker Center would continue to run a "Green-Collar Jobs Campaign" regionally and statewide in California.[4]

A major component of the Green for All movement is job security:

You can’t take a building you want to weatherize, put it on a ship to China and then have them do it and send it back. So we are going to have to put people to work in this country — weatherizing millions of buildings, putting up solar panels, constructing wind farms. Those green-collar jobs can provide a pathway out of poverty for someone who has not gone to college.[5]

According to a March 26, 2008 press release from United Press International (UPI), the green-collar job sector is growing in the United States, and could include more than 14 million workers by 2017. Although it is difficult to pin down what constitutes a green-collar job, the American Solar Energy Society said there are around 8.5 million U.S. jobs that involve Earth-friendly enterprises and renewable energy sources. This figure could grow by 5 million in the next 10 years according to Jerome Ringo of the Apollo Alliance. [6]

Green for All and other green-energy businesses have been receiving increased press by major publications such as the New York Times[7], USA Today[8], Business Week[9] and The Nation[10], indicating that the growth potential cited by UPI is picking up steam in the public sector as well.

The Green Jobs Act of 2007

Green for All was a major proponent of the Green Jobs Act of 2007[11], which received vital support from Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. The Green Jobs Act, which was inserted into the general