...What About the Green Jobs?

This past weekend, human rights activist and environmental visionary Van Jones resigned from his post as President Obama's advisor on Green Jobs. This action came amidst controversy, after a campaign of slanderous smears and allegations against him by several right-wing "news" pundits. Unfortunately, some of Mr. Jones' progressive beliefs fell inexcusably outside of the norm for mainstream politics, and were therefore besieged by the rabid pundits of conservative media, who painted him as a villain while ensuring the end of his career as a white house advisor.

But this man is far from villainous. Before joining the Obama office in his unprecedented role, Mr. Jones was an active, inspirational voice and an environmental leader for many. He is the author of the bestselling book The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems. It is a coherent breakdown of the complexities of our socio-economic system, as well as those involving our environmental effects and consequent policy. It addresses what Jones refers to as the "Green New Deal," an environmental program whose model is similar to that of FDR's post-depression restructuring, and places the government on the same page as the people, working sensibly to create reliable economies and stable jobs through the demand for all things "green." Besides founding and advocating for several human rights organizations, Van Jones was also listed as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people for 2009.


There is no doubt that Mr. Jones is a sound, forward-minded thinker who appreciates the demands as well as the barriers of our times, and understands the dynamics of action in the face of a looming ecological crisis. Yet the effect that his experience and knowledge would have had on Obama's handling of two of our nation's greatest threats will never be known, since past statements that he had made in an unofficial manner were so scrutinized and condemned by those of the right-wing punditry. They claimed that his views, which included a criticism of the Republican party and a call for truth about the attacks of September 11th, were proof that he was too partisan to be effective in the White House. As if no one in Washington has ever held a personal opinion, or sought out truth in the face of endless lies. They accused him unfairly in such a radically exaggerated measure that what followed was a resignation, not a resolution.


It is probably not surprising that the punditry took such vicious actions against Jones, considering that he is the founder of the organization Color of Change, which petitioned to have advertisers boycott Glenn Beck's Fox News show after Mr. Beck made appalling comments about president Obama being a racist. There was very personal fire taking place in this situation, and unfortunately the environmental policy of our country is being compromised in its name.


Our nation will continue to move forward, however, despite the ridiculous manic punditry frantically assailing us with negative falsities. Perhaps Mr. Jones no longer holds an official post, but as Ariana Huffington noted in her piece, Thank You, Glenn Beck!, he will continue to educate, inspire, and lead Americans as we search for new alternatives to the ecological crisis we find ourselves in. And a green collar economy still has every chance of being realized, along with the millions of jobs it will create for our struggling workforce, which is in desperate need of real change. It is absolutely in the interest of the American people, and is undeniably something that has gathered enormous attention in our popular culture. So the resignation of a potentially effective leader in the White House is meaningless, as the ideals and actions that he represents are still very prominent on the minds of the people in power ...us.