Green Jobs Find International Support

Sitting in a warm Capitol Hill office building last week, a panel of green-collar job activists attempted to rally support among a room of sleepy Congressional staffers. At the end of the briefing, Van Jones, a civil-rights lawyer-turned-green jobs champion, delivered the message that jolted many audience members out of their afternoon haze. "We are about to enter stagflation," Jones said. "That means people get voted out of office."

Highlighting the connections between lagging employment and the need to address climate change has become a favorite talking point in the U.S. environmental and labor rights communities. It's the common denominator that can uplift the working poor, provide incentive to the corporate rich, and still address the growing threat of catastrophic climate change, they say. Especially as economic markets stumble in the United States and across the world, many activists say that promoting green jobs is the only way to reach an effective international climate agreement.