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The Commonwealth Club of California
San Francisco, CA
Jul 24th, 2008
[A video version of this presentation with transcripts is available at Fora.tv]
During the 2008 presidential election, the highly covered chants from crowds of "Drill Baby! Drill!" evoked one of two reactions. If your response was one of disbelief, then this panel discussion from The Commonwealth Club of California should be interesting to you. In it, you'll hear Van Jones and California State Senator Darrell Steinberg discuss a unique solution for our economy and environment. Together they offer a clear vision for green economic development and its potential.
In the past, job creation and protecting the environment have been, some say, mutually exclusive. But in 2007, the Green Jobs Act and the founding of Green for All, an organization that focuses on green job training, marked the beginning of a movement to redefine economic growth. Together Jones and Steinberg attempt to answer in this session: "Can green-collar jobs clean the "dirty-energy economy" and lift people out of poverty?
Is it possible to reconcile these historic opposites? As Jones puts it, "Why don't we use the people who most need, to avert climate chaos with the work that most needs done?" In the session, Steinberg also discusses a problem that he believes is directly related to the challenges of our economy and environment, the high rate of school dropouts. Together, both of the panelists, present the potential that lies in combining the proponents of all of these issues together. They believe by joining these problems together, the demand for accountability increases, and therefore makes clear the message "the status quo is unacceptable!"
Van Jones is a civil rights and environmental advocate in Oakland, California, working to combine solutions to social inequality and environmental justice. Jones is the president and founder of Green For All, a national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. Green For All grew out of Jones' work creating a 'Green Job Corp' in Oakland, California, as part of a program at the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.
Jones founded the Ella Baker Center in 1996. Named for the civil rights and human rights heroine Ella Baker, the Center challenges human rights abuses in the United States criminal justice system and "promotes alternatives to violence and incarceration."
In 1997, a Jones-led campaign helped convince the San Francisco Police Commission to fire controversial police officer Marc Andaya. From 2001 to 2003, Jones played a key role in blocking the construction of a proposed "Super-Jail for Youth" in Alameda County.
Darrell Steven Steinberg is a Democratic politician from Sacramento, California. He is currently serving his first term in the California State Senate, representing the 6th District. He will be the next Senate Pro Tem when Don Perata is termed out of office.[2] Steinberg had previously served as a member of the California State Assembly (1998-2004) and as a member of the Sacramento City Council (1992-1998).
Steinberg attended University of California, Los Angeles where he received his bachelors of arts degree in economics. He later attended University of California, Davis school of law where he received his judicial doctorate.[3] Steinberg worked as an employee rights attorney for the California State Employees Association for 10 years and as an Administrative Law Judge and mediator.
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