Green Jobs Will Clean Up The Economy, Communities

Van Jones can command a stage. Whispering about pollution in poor neighborhoods, he might bring an audience close to tears. Then he'll pack the next thought with a wicked grin, rocking the room with laughter. The Yale-trained attorney from Tennessee has campaigned against police brutality and youth imprisonment with the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights he co-founded 11 years ago in Oakland, Calif. But his recent push to create a "green-collar" job corps has catapulted Jones to the national stage.