with that being said, let's save the planet!!! this month in the Awesome Maria Book Club we have Van Jones's New Green Economy...something like that. Van jones is a hottie from California who realizes that we need to change our energy sources and our attitudes. Check it out!
The New Green Economy, by Van Jones, was written one year before Jones became part of Obama's awesome task force to save the planet. This text contributes to understanding socioeconomic patterns in American political thought. It outlines the major enduring theme of the economy. The economy runs this country, and it is something that will remain prevalent in the politics of the United States of America. The new green economy is the solution to The United States's two hugest problems; the failing economy and the failing environment. In this text, Jones outlines the situation, empowers people to take action, and presents the solution.
Jones touches on poverty when describing why a new, green economy is necessary in order for America to continue to prevail. Poverty “forces many people into homes in neighborhoods that are vulnerable to everything from flooding to mudslides to toxic air.”(Jones 24). This is an example of how the United States is facing two major crises; “radical socioeconomic inequality and rampant environmental destruction”(Jones 24).
In chapter four, The Green New Deal is outlined, and it is shown how it is not only possible, but necessary. Jones says that “to birth a just and green economy, our society needs the government to act as an effective midwife”(Jones 79). Essentially, the government needs to be a champion and supporter of the green economy. The people will follow it's government, and the government must lead us in the green direction. People already know all about the green movement; however, “principles alone do not generate successful movements”(Jones 79); legislation and government backing does, however. A concrete policy agenda, which Jones lines out, is what is necessary.
There are keys to successful movements, and Jones hits the nail right on the head when explaining these keys; “fewer issues, more solutions, fewer demands, more goals, fewer targets, more partners, less accusation, more confession, and less cheap patriotism, more deep patriotism”(Jones 105). These principles, which Jones elaborates on, are imperative to the success of any organization trying to reach any ends.
Jones makes it clear that we do not want government to “be our nanny”; we simply want and need it's support and guidance. We want the people to become empowered to push and support the green movement; after all, this is a democracy, and it is run by the people. Activists are “happy to place our faith in the power of ordinary people to do extraordinary things”(Jones 81). Social justice activists should “seize the opportunity to ensure that the new, green economy has the principles of diversity and inclusion baked in from the beginning”(Jones 87) to ensure that environmental racism is not a problem, as it was in the Katrina tragedy. It is people like these, according to Jones, that will make our green successful future possible. We want the government to be a partner with it's people.
Being green has unfortunately become a fad in America. Jones is concerned that this may turn people off from environmentally friendly behaviors. Lower middle class citizens see millionaires driving hybrids, eating local organic expensive food, and doing yoga. Jones describes these caricatures of the green citizen as “grossly unfair”. All it takes is enlightenment to know that certain behaviors such as driving rather than walking and leaving the tap on while you brush your teeth are bad for the planet. “Eco-elite politics”(Jones 95) are not going to unite us and save this planet, and this nation. Working together and realizing that we are all the same, must all stop engaging in destructive behaviors, and can all make differences in our lives to better the planet is what is going to save us and our futures. We need more than hybrid cars; we need a hybrid movement.
America is being hit in it's lungs and in it's wallets due to coal power plant pollution. Coal plants have been running America's energy for years, but Jones stresses the importance of switching to renewable. Asthma rates are going up, and so are mosquito populations and heart attacks due to coal power plant pollution. Therefor, health care costs are rising. Coal power plants give politicians massive campaign contributions; therefor, politicians owe them favors. We are stuck in a vicious cycle of coal plants being in power, and green energy legislation not being passed.
The time is now to usher in a new, green economy with new, green jobs. We need to put money back in the pockets of our people, and politics back into the hands and minds of the people where it was meant to be. This text is extremely important in American history and political thought, and should be included in the Dolbare/Cannon because it shows the thought and theory behind the revolution that is about to take place in this country. Many people fear the change, fear debt, and fear job loss. They don't support clean, green energy, and want to stick to coal. They don't understand that this change is a very good thing and will lead to economic success, success in the work place, and success in the future of this planet and it's people. Jones's book empowers people, removes fear, and places faith in the new green economy.
Aldo Leopold's The Land Ethic, written in 1949, years before Van Jones's Green Collar Economy, discusses the need for a new set of ethics regarding human interaction with nature. According to Leopold, the US Forest Service was all about economic utility, not an ecological utility(Conservationism). This text lead to the anthropological model of resource management. Leopold's model also lead to the modern day notions of environmentalism.
According to Leopold, proper treatment of the land must be included in our human code of ethics. He argues that something is ethically right “when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." That is the basic principle of land ethic. He says that all things in nature must be included. Leopold says that we must respect the land we live on, and all the other things living on it. We are all a community.
Jones and Leopold both stress the importance of respecting the Earth and living sustainably on it. They both agree that our lives should have little impact on the lives of the other living things on Earth. Unlike Leopold however, Jones offers suggestions as to how economy and ecology can work together to benefit both. Also, Jones's piece makes the issues more scary, local, and urgent; three factors that many environmentalists use to make people aware that the issue is real, it's here, and we need to do something about it now. Also unlike Leopold, Jones shows people how the economy can improve through green measures. This is very important, because money runs this country, and people cling to their wallets.
Ansel E. Adams, a photographer and environmentalist who took well known photographs of Yosemite National Park, once notably said that “it is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment”. He is right; why should we have to fight for legislation to save the lives of ourselves and others, and other species, and nature as we know it? The job of the government is to protect us, not to put us in danger. This brings us to Thoreau's Civil Disobedience. Thoreau states that governments are typically more harmful than helpful, and in this case, he is correct.
Thoreau insists that when government is corrupt as such, it is the duty of “honest men to rebel and revolutionize”. Van Jones is trying to revolutionize in a non violent way; the only war battles here are on the senate floor. In this revolution, there is little war debt and the only suffering is mental, and in the hearts of big oil and coal companies. Thoreau discusses that when people find something unjust, they attempt to use the political process to create new, just laws. In the meantime, people obey and respect the unjust law until it is changed. However, if a law was passed that is unjust and people are obeying it, it is unlikely that legislators are going to change the law; in fact, you have to convince the people who worked hard to get the unjust law passed to turn the law around. Plus, it can take years to pass new legislation. Unjust laws deserve no respect and should be broken. Legislation that allows coal plants to pollute is unjust to the people of this country because it is putting their lives in danger. So how do we act disobediently towards this legislation?
When the colonists did not approve of the tea tax, sugar tax, or stamp act, they avoided products that had this tax on them. We need to hit the oil companies where it hurts; their wallets. If we, the people of this great nation, invest in green technology, the government will see that it is what we want and something that they should be investing in too. Slavery was not an issue of what is morally right (whether or not to enslave people); it was an issue of the North not needing slaves because of it's industrialized nature. Clearly, the government did not care about what war morally right then. What makes us think that they care about what's morally right now? They probably don't. No; they definitely don't. If they cared, there would have been real change by now; the change that Jones calls for. The only thing that is going to make them change is something that will bring them out of debt.
In America, thousands of people who have low or no incomes are forced to live close to coal plants, factory farms, and other institutions that create unhealthy living situations. This is known as environmental racism; the intentional (or unintentional) concentration of minority communities living in unsafe (in terms of air quality) situations, close to polluting industries. These minorities also tend to get little to no help in times of disaster (Jones discusses Hurricane Katrina in great depth regarding this issue) because of the locations they live in, the lack of funds they have to evacuate, or because the government just plain does not make them a priority.
Thoreau says that he prefers to just live; what has he got to loose? He wants to live as a citizen of Massachusetts. However, he does not want to live unjustly, and feels that any punishment he may receive due to his civil disobedience is well worth it. People need to start believing that fighting for their liberty, rights, and justice is well worth it! Jones, taking a less risky approach, founded Green For All, a not for profit NGO that would fight for all the things outlined in his new green economy. Jones and Thoreau were both revolutionaries who knew what they had to do to make change, and they did it.
The New Deal was a set of economic programs initiated by president Roosevelt between the 30's and 40's. It was meant to create jobs, reform business practices, and recover the economy. Roosevelt understood that we needed to overhaul our economy, and he even understood that we needed to begin to overhaul our planet; he created a number of national parks. It's been said that the financial collapse we've been facing in the past months are comparable to that of the Great Depression, which is why Jones argues that we need this Green New Deal.
Today, banks are closing, employers are firing, and our planet is failing. Relief programs that Roosevelt put into place were shut down by those who originally opposed the new deal, ending regulations, and decreasing taxes (which is the conservative way). While some programs, such as Social Security and the FDIC are still in place. Other important programs and regulations are not. What would Roosevelt think of drilling in the Denali National Park? What would Franklin Do?
While we may never know the answer to “WWFD”, we certainly know “WOWD”-What Obama would do. Because Jones was appointed Special Advisor on Green Jobs, we can rest assured that everything is being done by Jones and Obama possible to usher in this new, green economy, complete with environmental legislation in the form of cash back cap and trade legislation for power plants with carbon emissions, and investment in clean, green energy (in the form of wind and solar).
It is obvious that the Green Revolution is in place, and we are facing a green future. Jones's text is monumental, primary source, and was written during the revolution. It is extremely important and noteworthy, something every political theorist should consider and interpret when studying the era of 2000. It contributes to the understanding of American Political Thought, and explains pending legislation and shifts in American socioeconomic patterns.
No comments:
Post a Comment