The Green Dream

I have been hearing a lot about “green-collar” jobs lately and I wasn’t sure what to make of all the fuss. But last week at an historic conference on green jobs in Pittsburgh, I realized that unlike other of-the-moment green trends, the “green-collar” jobs movement has deep roots and the great potential to unite the environmental, labor, and social and economic justice movements. The conference was more than just the latest meeting of high-minded progressive intellectuals although there were plenty of those armed with power-point presentation. In a city which is being reborn thanks to urban and environmental renewal rank and file union members rubbed elbows with anti-poverty organizers and environmental activists. Even more astounding was that the issue that brought these unlikely allies together is global warming.

As a sometimes cynical Washington lobbyist it takes a lot to inspire me these days, but that is exactly how I felt driving away from Pittsburgh past the recovered brownfields and towards wind turbines that are sprouting up all over Pennsylvania. The overarching message of the conference was that global warming is not only the biggest environmental challenge humanity has ever faced, but it also could be one of the greatest economic opportunities our nation has ever seen. Imagine this: we need to rebuild our energy system in order to stop global warming. Building wind farms, installing solar panels, retro-fitting buildings to make them more energy independent and manufacturing all the parts, products, vehicles, and train cars that will make it possible will create hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of jobs. Now imagine that all of those jobs were union jobs that provided good benefits and a living wage to impoverished people. Suddenly global warming could provide “green pathways out of poverty” in the words environmental justice rock star Van Jones.

At the conference the Apollo Alliance - a coalition organization of labor, environmental, and social justice groups - released a report that highlights many of the green job success stories already happening across the country including right here in DC. Mayor Adrian Fenty has created a “Green Jobs Advisory Council” uniting several city departments. Their goal is to meet the District’s environmental policy goals on green buildings, energy efficiency and water quality by building a skilled “green-collar” workforce of DC residents. Chicago, Oakland, New York City, Millwaukee, Minneapolis and other cities across the country are pursuing similar policies.

So maybe the oil companies, Big Coal, and global warming deniers are right that saving our planet will be the end of our economy as we know it. But that doesn’t worry me if we replace it with a more just, sustainable, and equitable system that revitalizes our cities and brings economic opportunity to millions.