Shortly after midnight on Saturday, Van Jones resigned from his position as the White House special adviser on green jobs, enterprise and innovation. Trouble came after Jones’ name began circulating in the media about a petition he signed years ago in which he was seen to align himself with 9/11 conspiracy theorists, and a video-clip that surfaced showing Jones calling Republicans “a—holes.” While there are debates now as to whether Jones is a “radical” or a “9/11 truther,” a larger discussion is warranted over the future of green jobs policy, and whether it remains a priority in the Obama administration.
First, it must be understood how Jones rose to the position in the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality. After the Yale Law graduate made a name for himself in Oakland, Calif., from agitating against police brutality and advocating on behalf of at-risk black youth, Jones formed the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, which championed slogans and programs like “books not bars.”
Inspired by eco-heroine Julia Butterfly Hill, Jones picked up on environmentalism and formed Green For All, a non-profit organization that pushed for green jobs in disadvantaged communities. Earlier this year he released The Green Collar Economy, his first critically acclaimed book that eventually brought him to Obama’s attention as green jobs advisor.
But since his appointment, conservative radio talk show hosts and bloggers have painted Jones as Obama’s “red czar” due to his history with protest organizations like Students Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement [STORM], which included communist sympathizers.
Last week right-wing media personality Glenn Beck seized on this, compounded it with the 9/11 petition and started a media frenzy by questioning whether Obama’s agenda was an anti-American and racist one.
Timing was a factor in this furor: Obama was looking to push climate change legislation through the Senate after it successfully cleared the House of Representatives and a new healthcare policy. Jones resigned stating, “On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. I cannot in good conscience ask my colleagues to expend precious time and energy defending or explaining my past.”
It’s a good thing Jones realized this before the White House had to realize it for him. Ultimately, resigning will prove to be a wise decision for Jones. Jones was an outstanding promoter of increased employment opportunities for underserved communities and had an even louder megaphone from within the federal government. However, with unemployment expected to surpass 10 percent before the year’s end, and having reached 15.1 percent – the highest it’s been since the early 80s – for African Americans, Jones effectiveness in implementing those green jobs programs has yet to be determined.
Jones did get the ball rolling, pushing among other initiatives the $150 million in Pathways out of Poverty grants from the stimulus funds targeted for low-income and minority neighborhoods. Whoever replaces him has to see those grants and other federal green jobs programs through, and push for expansion of those programs.
Jones will land on his feet, rejoining with groups like Green for All and the Apollo Alliance to continue advocacy, but voters and activists must push the White House to stay committed to green jobs for the ghettos as well. The White House should not let Jones’ role go vacant for too long. They should either replace him immediately with someone who’s experienced in delivering successful green jobs programs — someone like Majora Carter, formerly of Sustainable South Bronx, Robert Bullard of the Environmental Justice Resource Center, Beverly Wright of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice or Peggy Shepard of WEACT in Harlem.
If not, Jones’ former responsibilities should be folded under the Environmental Protection Agency or Department of Labor, whose Secretary Hilda Solis wrote green jobs legislation when serving state public office in California.
If the White House chooses to abandon green workforce policy altogether, that is when real disappointment should set in, and the community organizers, activists and voters should rally. Except for that total abandonment, the resignation of Van Jones does not have to equal the end of green jobs for the poor.