Green Energy Meets Jobs
Even activists can stun themselves by speaking up. For a decade, Van Jones, a Yale-trained attorney and cofounder of Oakland's Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, was mostly known in the Bay Area for fighting to reform police and youth prisons. In recent years he and other activists have pushed for inner-city job training in the solar, wind, and other energy-saving industries. In June, Oakland became the first city in the nation to create a "Green Jobs Corps" program. A green coalition in nearby Richmond recently installed solar panels on a home, employing at-risk trainees.
Even activists can stun themselves by speaking up. For a decade, Van Jones, a Yale-trained attorney and cofounder of Oakland's Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, was mostly known in the Bay Area for fighting to reform police and youth prisons.
In recent years he and other activists have pushed for inner-city job training in the solar, wind, and other energy-saving industries. In June, Oakland became the first city in the nation to create a "Green Jobs Corps" program. A green coalition in nearby Richmond recently installed solar panels on a home, employing at-risk trainees.
