Two prominent proponents of the green economy and green movement, Van Jones and Majora Carter, envision a future where inner cities are revitalized by the current green tide. Mr. Jones is a special advisor for green jobs, enterprise, and innovation at the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and founder of Green for All, “a national organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty.” Ms. Carter, seen here giving a speech at the Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) Conference in Monterey, California, is the founder of Sustainable South Bronx and head of  The Majora Carter Group, a “green-economic development consulting firm.”

Mr. Jones was interviewed yesterday morning by NPR’s Renee Montagne. He discussed the impact of the stimulus bill on the green economy and urban areas. The thrust of Mr. Jones’ task is to promote green collar jobs; blue collar positions that have an environmental focus. When asked by Ms. Montagne about “greening the ghetto”, Mr. Jones explained that this statement reflects the need to connect people who most need work with the work that most needs to be done. As Ms. Montagne points out, environmental issues remain at the bottom of people’s concerns, which is why Mr. Jones talks about the importance of helping people see the monetary benefit of making their homes more energy efficient.

Like Mr. Jones, Ms. Carter has a similar goal: to”Green the Ghetto.” Ms. Carter is a fervent supporter of cleaning up inner cities and removing the industrial toxins which are found at greater rates in places such as the South Bronx, where she has lived her entire life. Throughout her emotional TED speech, Ms. Carter provides a brief, yet in depth history of how the South Bronx came to be degraded and the subsequent movement to make it more sustainable. In her speech, she says that “economic degradation begets environmental degradation which begets social degradation.” In order to prevent these situations, she argues for use of the triple bottom line approach for all business decisions.

Both Mr. Jones and Ms. Carter’s vision can be summed up by Green for All’s belief in the need to “shift to a clean, green economy [which] can improve the health and well-being of low-income people, who suffer disproportionately from cancer, asthma and other respiratory ailments in our current pollution-based economy.” Leaders like Ms. Carter and Ms. Jones demonstrate that the green movement can positively impact the most economically disadvantaged members of society.

- Eric Wilson