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New Labor Secretary is Brown and Green
Dec 19, 2008
President-elect Barack Obama got it right when he announced
Representative Hilda Solis as his pick for the next secretary of labor.
Headlines are heralding her as the first Latino to hold the post. But
the green jobs movement is jumping for joy not only because she's
brown. It's because she's green. Through Solis, Obama makes clear his
commitment to creating green jobs to lift the nation out of its current
economic crisis.
We're thrilled that Hilda Solis shares the green jobs vision. In
fact, she's already helped make it real. Rep. Solis was the original
author of the Green Jobs Act, and our Green For All team worked closely
with her in 2007. During that year's Congressional session, she worked
with colleagues on both sides of the aisle and was instrumental in
getting that hallmark legislation passed. Her work demonstrated her
commitment to a socially responsible, clean-energy economy that will
create millions of good-paying jobs and save our environment. She is
the right secretary of labor to take advantage of a great opportunity
not only to make America's economy stronger by making it greener, but
also to make Americans living in poverty part of a revitalized middle
class.
As Obama raises his right hand on inauguration day, he should be
signing new green jobs bills with his left. Early next year, Green For
All will join a coalition of groups advocating for the Clean Energy
Corps. The Clean Energy Corps is a combined service, training, and
job-creation effort to combat global warming, grow local and regional
economies, and demonstrate the promise of the clean energy economy.
You'll hear more from Green For All in the upcoming year. We're a
national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy,
strong enough to lift people out of poverty. By advocating for local,
state and federal commitments to job creation, job training, and
entrepreneurial opportunities in the emerging green economy --
especially for people from disadvantaged communities -- Green For All
fights both poverty and pollution at the same time. For more
information, please visit our web site.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Van Jones
Van Jones, President of Rebuild the Dream, and author of the new book Rebuild the Dream. Jones was the founder and former president of Green for All and author of The Green Collar Economy. In 2009, he served as the green jobs advisor in the Obama White House. Van is currently a senior fellow at the Center For American Progress, and also holds a joint appointment at Princeton University, as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
President-elect Barack Obama got it right when he announced
Representative Hilda Solis as his pick for the next secretary of labor.
Headlines are heralding her as the first Latino to hold the post. But
the green jobs movement is jumping for joy not only because she's
brown. It's because she's green. Through Solis, Obama makes clear his
commitment to creating green jobs to lift the nation out of its current
economic crisis.
We're thrilled that Hilda Solis shares the green jobs vision. In
fact, she's already helped make it real. Rep. Solis was the original
author of the Green Jobs Act, and our Green For All team worked closely
with her in 2007. During that year's Congressional session, she worked
with colleagues on both sides of the aisle and was instrumental in
getting that hallmark legislation passed. Her work demonstrated her
commitment to a socially responsible, clean-energy economy that will
create millions of good-paying jobs and save our environment. She is
the right secretary of labor to take advantage of a great opportunity
not only to make America's economy stronger by making it greener, but
also to make Americans living in poverty part of a revitalized middle
class.
As Obama raises his right hand on inauguration day, he should be
signing new green jobs bills with his left. Early next year, Green For
All will join a coalition of groups advocating for the Clean Energy
Corps. The Clean Energy Corps is a combined service, training, and
job-creation effort to combat global warming, grow local and regional
economies, and demonstrate the promise of the clean energy economy.
You'll hear more from Green For All in the upcoming year. We're a
national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy,
strong enough to lift people out of poverty. By advocating for local,
state and federal commitments to job creation, job training, and
entrepreneurial opportunities in the emerging green economy --
especially for people from disadvantaged communities -- Green For All
fights both poverty and pollution at the same time. For more
information, please visit our web site.
Van Jones
Van Jones, President of Rebuild the Dream, and author of the new book Rebuild the Dream. Jones was the founder and former president of Green for All and author of The Green Collar Economy. In 2009, he served as the green jobs advisor in the Obama White House. Van is currently a senior fellow at the Center For American Progress, and also holds a joint appointment at Princeton University, as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.
President-elect Barack Obama got it right when he announced
Representative Hilda Solis as his pick for the next secretary of labor.
Headlines are heralding her as the first Latino to hold the post. But
the green jobs movement is jumping for joy not only because she's
brown. It's because she's green. Through Solis, Obama makes clear his
commitment to creating green jobs to lift the nation out of its current
economic crisis.
We're thrilled that Hilda Solis shares the green jobs vision. In
fact, she's already helped make it real. Rep. Solis was the original
author of the Green Jobs Act, and our Green For All team worked closely
with her in 2007. During that year's Congressional session, she worked
with colleagues on both sides of the aisle and was instrumental in
getting that hallmark legislation passed. Her work demonstrated her
commitment to a socially responsible, clean-energy economy that will
create millions of good-paying jobs and save our environment. She is
the right secretary of labor to take advantage of a great opportunity
not only to make America's economy stronger by making it greener, but
also to make Americans living in poverty part of a revitalized middle
class.
As Obama raises his right hand on inauguration day, he should be
signing new green jobs bills with his left. Early next year, Green For
All will join a coalition of groups advocating for the Clean Energy
Corps. The Clean Energy Corps is a combined service, training, and
job-creation effort to combat global warming, grow local and regional
economies, and demonstrate the promise of the clean energy economy.
You'll hear more from Green For All in the upcoming year. We're a
national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy,
strong enough to lift people out of poverty. By advocating for local,
state and federal commitments to job creation, job training, and
entrepreneurial opportunities in the emerging green economy --
especially for people from disadvantaged communities -- Green For All
fights both poverty and pollution at the same time. For more
information, please visit our web site.
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