LIVE from Austin: Van Jones talks about trip to the Arctic, rebuilding America
Van Jones has taken the stage here at Netroots Nation and is telling us about a recent trip to the Arctic that he took with several dignitaries, including former President Jimmy Carter and executives from DuPont and Monsanto.
They went up to look at the receding glaciers and the disappearing habitat for animals such as the polar bear. They left convinced that there was no doubt, as Van Jones put it, that Al Gore had been correct all along.
The climate crisis is real, despite what fanatics on the right wing might think. (Sorry, Stefan and Phil. You guys are just wrong.)
"We cannot drill and our burn our way out," Van Jones declared. But, he added, "We can invent and invest our way out."
We can in his words, "cut demand for energy and diversify supply"... which will lead to millions of new jobs. A green revolution could revitalize the American economy, including the manufacturing sector.
"This fall we are going to launch a massive campaign to accelerate the embrace of green jobs," Van Jones said. "We know about the bad stuff. We're going to start talking about the good stuff."
"We want to be able to tell people for the first time: guess what? This movement for climate solutions is a movement you've been waiting for your whole life."
Van Jones said the message to the American people..and their children... must be simple and inspiring. "We want to retrofit, reboot, repower a nation. We want to give you the training, the technology, to rescue this country."
He warned against what will happen if Obama is elected.
The right wing, he observed, will certainly move to snarl and derail any effort in Washington, D.C. to bring about a green revolution.
They will attack champions for environmental protection and claim that the green revolution is an attack on impoverished Americans.
And that will be a lie.
Because the green revolution will be about lifting everyone up. Empowering millions of people with new jobs. Billions of dollars pumped into the economy.
Van Jones said our greatest challenge is just ahead of us. "We have to figure out how to govern," he said. And we have to work together to bring the country each other. Build a progressive governing majority, a new movement reminiscent of FDR's legendary New Deal Coalition.
He also addressed accountability, saying he didn't expect someone like Obama to be perfect. "My view is we don't need the president to fix everything. We need the president to stop breaking everything," Van Jones said to applause.
They went up to look at the receding glaciers and the disappearing habitat for animals such as the polar bear. They left convinced that there was no doubt, as Van Jones put it, that Al Gore had been correct all along.
The climate crisis is real, despite what fanatics on the right wing might think. (Sorry, Stefan and Phil. You guys are just wrong.)
"We cannot drill and our burn our way out," Van Jones declared. But, he added, "We can invent and invest our way out."
We can in his words, "cut demand for energy and diversify supply"... which will lead to millions of new jobs. A green revolution could revitalize the American economy, including the manufacturing sector.
"This fall we are going to launch a massive campaign to accelerate the embrace of green jobs," Van Jones said. "We know about the bad stuff. We're going to start talking about the good stuff."
"We want to be able to tell people for the first time: guess what? This movement for climate solutions is a movement you've been waiting for your whole life."
Van Jones said the message to the American people..and their children... must be simple and inspiring. "We want to retrofit, reboot, repower a nation. We want to give you the training, the technology, to rescue this country."
He warned against what will happen if Obama is elected.
The right wing, he observed, will certainly move to snarl and derail any effort in Washington, D.C. to bring about a green revolution.
They will attack champions for environmental protection and claim that the green revolution is an attack on impoverished Americans.
And that will be a lie.
Because the green revolution will be about lifting everyone up. Empowering millions of people with new jobs. Billions of dollars pumped into the economy.
Van Jones said our greatest challenge is just ahead of us. "We have to figure out how to govern," he said. And we have to work together to bring the country each other. Build a progressive governing majority, a new movement reminiscent of FDR's legendary New Deal Coalition.
He also addressed accountability, saying he didn't expect someone like Obama to be perfect. "My view is we don't need the president to fix everything. We need the president to stop breaking everything," Van Jones said to applause.
# Posted by Andrew : 8:31 AM
Comments:
Post a Comment