How Van Jones channels Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his new book.

Read On »

Despite the best wishes of those ideologically opposed, either for political reasons, or through ties to declining fossil fuel sector, or both, the green jobs economy has been performing robustly. In fact, according to a survey recently conducted by LinkedIn, it is outperforming every other sector.

Read On »

The American Dream defines a nation obsessed with individual achievement at the price of an equitable society. But what if we are wrong? The promise of the “sustainable green” movement is a society that understands the interrelationships between social justice and the food, health and environment systems for all living organisms. We are at a crossroads with an opportunity as a nation to rebuild our brand and show the world that is possible to regain our sense of self and community and truly capture the American Dream.

Read On »

By Heather King Van Jones may have resigned his post as Obama’s green jobs czar, but he continues his crusade for a better America. This afternoon at the SOCAP 2011 conference, he rallied support for the “American Dream 2.0″ and railed on the Tea Party. “There was a tech bubble and a dot com bubble. [...]

Read On »

Analysts with no field experience can paint a very bleak picture of the green job market and related training programs. In reality, hard numbers on employment post training are hard to come by. A handful of eager media representatives characterized green training programs as ineffective, drains on the economy, and in the worst reports as [...]

Read On »

By Boyd Cohen, Ph.D., Co-Author, Climate Capitalism One lucky 3p reader who retweets this article will receive receive a signed, hardback edition of Climate Capitalism. Click the Tweet button above and tweet this article to enter! It is hard to believe, but about two years after I first suggested the crazy idea to Hunter Lovins [...]

Read On »

Enter another high profile person lending his voice to speak in opposition to Proposition 23 which would overturn California’s 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act. Van Jones, in a September 9 co-written blog post for ThinkProgress, said of the Act that it “sent a clear message to investors and businesses that clean energy will be the [...]

Read On »

Given the collision of two crises, one economic and the other environmental, our leaders need to understand their priority both in terms of relative importance as well as urgency. Politicians wanting to claim the high ground of concern on the global climate issue, without actually supporting it, were given perfect cover by the financial crisis [...]

Read On »

While we’re stoked that jobs bill passed, Congress must stop ignoring another major source of jobs- a national renewable energy standard. AWEA and Navigant Consulting report up 274,000 potential green jobs …

Read On »

In last week’s column, I wrote about this upcoming State of Green Business Forum.  As I indicated, I was perhaps most excited to hear from Van Jones, who was the victim of a Fox News-sponsored witch hunt that forced him to resign from the Obama Administration as its green job czar.  Personally, I feel Jones [...]

Read On »

GreenBiz.com’s State of Green Business Forum next week (February 4th) in San Francisco comes at a time when modest leadership at the federal level and mixed reviews from Copenhagen have raised the stakes for the success of the green economy as the ultimate go-between of business, advocacy, policy, and progress.  Among the many reasons I [...]

Read On »

Millions of new jobs.  An inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty.  Dignity.  The ability to support one’s family.  All done in an environmentally friendly way. A worker owned cooperative that salvages building materials. Efficiency audits for homeowners and small businesses. Horticultural and permaculture companies creating local food from dilapidated landscapes [...]

Read On »

Inflammatory pundits be warned: progressive organizations are learning to leverage the power of advertising boycotts – and major brands are listening. After Fox News host Glenn Beck called President Obama a “racist” last month, Color of Change, the largest online African-American political organization, launched an advertising boycott. As of last week, Beck’s show lost 62 [...]

Read On »

Van Jones forced to resign his post as special advisor to the Obama administration for green jobs.

Read On »

Even Van Jones recognizes there’s no unified definition of a green job. And as a senior advisor to the White House Council on Environmental Quality and founder and former executive director at Green for All, a national organization working to build an inclusive economy, Jones is about as definitive a source as you can find. [...]

Read On »

By Rebecca Greenberg It can be said, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that our world is changing. Our planet is warming, our population is growing, our water supply is under preassure, and our financial systems have suffered. We have a new president in office; a man who passionately describes a new, green economy. The [...]

Read On »

Following the lead of an organization called the East Bay Green Tours, the city of Richmond, CA, long considered a crime-ridden afterthought of the more well-heeled East Bay cities of Oakland and Berkeley, is making strides to help a small but fluorishing green business community take off. Tomorrow, I will attend their first green tour [...]

Read On »

A month ago, I attended a Pitch-A-Thon the Future Leaders Institute (FLI) hosted in which students pitched their ideas for building a better tomorrow and received feedback from community leaders (respondents) in the sustainability and social change fields. FLI challenges students to research and identify societal problems, and come up with a plan for how [...]

Read On »

Van Jones is awarded the Environment Award for Individual Thought Leadership by the Aspen Institute

Read On »

Labor and environmental groups used to be on opposite sides. However, those days are long gone, according to a recent report, High Road or Low Road: Job Quality in the New Green Economy. The report mentions the 2004 creation of an alliance of labor, environmental groups, business, and social justice leaders called Apollo Alliance. The [...]

Read On »

While counterintuitive, a recession is actually a terrific time to start a business. Sure, credit is tight, and venture capital is definitely hard to come by, so startup ideas requiring large amounts of up-front capital are perhaps best left to the drawing board for the moment. But for many entrepreneurs with a dream, startup capital [...]

Read On »

Also known as the stimulus package, the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), along with Van Jones‘ appointment as Green Jobs Czar, will help American workers get back to work with job training and incentives for green initiatives. The subject has been well covered in the blogosphere and with good reason. Interest in the green [...]

Read On »

When Van Jones speaks, people listen. Whether it’s a public library full of unemployed high school drop-outs, an audience of environmentalists at San Franciso’s Green Expo, or a board meeting of Wall Street big shots. And it’s not just due to his piercing brown eyes and boyish charm (sorry, ladies; he’s married). Whether you’re talking [...]

Read On »

Ed Update: Now it’s official! While still not officially confirmed, the buzz from those in the know is that Van Jones, green visionary and founder of Green For All, will be tapped as president Obama’s “Green Jobs Czar.” A central focus of the Obama administration’s American Reinvestment and Recovery Plan is the creation of 3.5 [...]

Read On »

Viral and Green, not comfy bedfellows. Green is just not funny but wait until you get to the inept jokes. Or wisdom sharing. Passing of knowledge. We’re all geeks at heart when push comes to shove.

Read On »

Friday is a good day to watch a little Steven Colbert. The other day, Van Jones guest starred and rolled with Steven’s punches to give a pretty good depiction of the idea of a green economy and the potential for millions of associated jobs. Enjoy:

Read On »