Environmental and human rights activist Van Jones spoke on campus Wednesday about using sustainability advances to lift low-income families, specifically minorities, out of poverty.
Jones said he believes his identity as a black man plays a part in his perspective on environmental issues and his concern for incorporating the issue of poverty into environmental measures.
“Can we build a green economy that’s strong enough to lift people out of poverty?” he said.
Rallying low-income areas to address environmental issues is an uphill battle since low-income families often do not relate to the environmental movement, Jones said.
“(They think,) “˜I’m not trying to buy a hybrid ““ I’m trying to get bus fare,'” he said. Jones said he believes the current environmental movement is becoming increasingly commercialized and everyone must be included in green efforts for them to be effective.
Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability has become a major category in the U.S. economy and a $229 billion industry, Jones said. This includes products such as solar panels and yoga tapes.
However, since these products tend to be more expensive than their less environmentally friendly alternatives ““ an old car, for example, is more affordable than a hybrid ““ this category is also “the most racially segregated part of the economy,” he added. The price of health and sustainability products segregates those who can afford them from those who can not, dividing the U.S. into “ecological haves and have-nots,” Jones said.
Ann Carlson, a professor at the UCLA School of Law, said she believes the gap between the poor and the environmentally conscious can be bridged, partially through policy programs.
“A big problem with energy efficiency in apartments is that the person installing the equipment doesn’t pay the energy bills,” she said.
By creating policies mandating energy efficiency in buildings, the government could pass savings on to low-income tenants while helping conserve energy, she said.
One example of a low-income solution to environmental issues is People’s Grocery in Oakland, an organization that brings organic food to the community on trucks, Jones said.
Though West Oakland has a population of 30,000 people, it has no grocery stores, only liquor stores, so the organization provides a much-needed service that’s also green, Jones said.
Jones also advocated “green-collar jobs” as a solution to this division between environmentalism and poverty.
Training workers in low-income areas to do “green” jobs such as installing solar panels will allow environmental improvements to be accompanied by social advancement, he said. Ecological demands will thereby create jobs, he added, calling this a “green pathway out of poverty.”
Jones said he has gained the support of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for a clean energy bill that will fund training for green-collar jobs at vocational schools, community colleges and public schools.
His concern for both environmental problems and poverty makes Jones unique, said Lorna Apper, a fourth-year geography student.
“He’s one of the first speakers to bridge the gap between the environmental revolution and the social revolution on this campus,” she said, “and that is invaluable for our students to hear.”