Oakland Plugs Into Clean Tech As Job Generator

When Van Jones gazes out at Oakland, he sees green -- a green economy fed by growing clean-tech companies and Oakland residents trained to build wind farms, install solar panels or weatherize windows. At the same time, said Jones, who helped draft a plan to develop a Green Jobs Corps for the city, Oakland can become a worldwide leader in tying together the environment, the economy and social justice. On June 19, the Oakland City Council earmarked $250,000 for the program assembled by the Oakland Apollo Alliance and supported by labor unions like the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. The money could seed private contributions and federal job-training money, Jones said, to launch the program early next year.