Go Watch It: Yes We Can...Innovate Our Way To a Brighter Future

March 11, 2009

Go Watch It: Yes We Can...Innovate Our Way To a Brighter Future

I mentioned previously that Vice President Joe Biden was tasked by President Obama to hold a series of town hall meetings around the country to spark dialogue on green collar jobs as a way to revive the middle class.

This past Monday, videos from the first meetings held in Phildelphia, PA were released:

Van Jones, author, community organizer, and the new "Green Jobs Czar" for the Obama administration, spoke on the need to aim stimulus spending at the forgotten and thrown-away urban neighborhoods where environmental racism blights poverty. He also acknowledged the need for a light manufacturing base, and the wealth of assembly-line expertise residing in unions.

John Podesta, Center for American Progress, laid the foundation for weatherization and energy efficiency in the context of global climate crisis science. Lots of data on how homeowners pay more than they should for energy inefficient homes. Also presenting: Fred Krupp, the Environmental Defense Fund, on case studies of solar businesses. I liked the general growth/hiring trend shown in the studies, and would like to see how data from a larger number of states surveyed holds up.

Also inspiring: Labor Secretary Hilda Solis asked the presenters how this new green economy's "hard hat" jobs, often filled by men, will extend opportunities to women. Watch the 1-hourlong video to find out. (Personally, I loved Jones' reply.)

Equally heartening was USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack's interest in putting American Recovery and Reinvestment Act '09 money into community gardens and urban reforestation efforts.

The second portion of the panel is here.

Cynematic blogs at P i l l o w b o o k.