Green for All Fayettevillians

One of my favorite people is Van Jones, a prominent spokesperson for eco-equity. Van founded Green For All, an national organization that links environmental solutions with poverty reduction. They're based in Oakland, California, and - lucky me - I've been chosen for a Fellowship. Green For All is coming to Fayetteville.

I am excited to be accepted, because it's going to help me overcome a longstanding hurdle. Though by most accounts, I've been successful with my work, there has been one problematic theme: established interests hesitate to align themselves as champions for my goals. In other words, despite incremental success, success is yet to come. Climate change is still happening, poverty is still here, good businesses still fail, and violence continues to persist.

It's only a lack of coordination that holds back incentives for businesses or new environmental regulations, and it's not a coincidence that environmentalism has gained a reputation for obstructionism and alarmism. It takes solutions, not complaints, to improve the world.

Part of the solution is to rebrand environmentalism. Instead of old school environmentalism, it's time to talk about eco-equity. To align with business, we have to build a green economy, and to align progressives (and ethics!), we have to make it inclusive. We have to make a swift departure from classism, because if the new economy doesn't include everyone, then we won't have anything sustainable to stand on.

For example, if only 20% of the people on the planet can afford healthy food and a clean place to leave, then 80% of us are still creating the problem, and we haven't solved anything. In fact, we would have created an eco-apartheid.

We're pretty close to that now. Low-income families are subjected to pollution far more often, giving rise to cancer clusters and increased health care costs. But low-income families aren't alone, businesses aren't given the incentives to go green, either. In both cases, it's an access to capital/credit that keeps them from making needed and profitable improvements. If you hadn't noticed, the bank failout isn't helping much.

If we want to make progress, we have to recognize that environmentalism, building business, and eliminating classism and poverty are inextricably linked. It's time to rebrand our messages and bring the green economy to all people and all businesses.

As a Green For All Fellow, that is my mission. I'm here to build a hybrid movement; it's called social-uplift environmentalism.

Van Jones recognized that it would take a hybrid movement to change our country. He foresaw a green wave that lifted all boats, for businesses and for people, and he is exactly right. If you want the details, pick up his book: The Green-Collar Economy. I can't recommend it enough.

I'm working on several things now, like a Community Energy Alliance, to bring the green economy to our region, but I need your help. I'm not going to tell you what to do, because you can speak for yourself. All I'm going to do is ask you to take part and grow the movement. Tell your boss, your friends, and your elected representatives that you want green jobs.