Green-Collar Jobs for Urban America

Thanks for the article about my favorite city. Just for the record, let's not forget that Dellums also ran against a longtime progressive community resident and activist--Nancy Nadel. I voted for Ron after much soul searching but have not seen or heard much from him as of yet--still waiting and watching--hello?? hello??Ron, are you out there??

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San Francisco is not a yardstick of successful predictions. The South and the Midwest could sure as well get a nice introduction to green collar jobs and actually reverse the horrendous economic and environmental damage they've been forced to sustain for decades.

The first and next state to try this out in is Texas and Florida respectively. If you can go green there, the road to going green nationally is no longer out of reach.

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I used to live in Oakland, and know it has great potential as well as great people. I really hope this green-collar movement becomes a huge success and spawns similar movements in other cities. Good for the people, good for the economy, and good for the planet - it's win-win all around.

Perhaps Al Gore could make "green-collar" another one of his talking points?

To reiterate, this is the kind of article I love seeing from AlterNet. Thank you for posting this.

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Oakland must not be the only one, certainly. However, I'd like to see every city, county, and state use Oakland as an inspiration, a point-of-reference!

Progressives and the people in general are increasingly aware of the importance of seizing the power to take constructive action in the creation of a viable, green future!

The stranglehold the corporate/centralgovernment currently has on the nation is only as powerful as we allow it to be! Now is the time to break the chains of learned helplessness that enables the corpratocracy to exploit and enslave us!

The green revolution opens the doors for a better future for all life in this great nation and the world! And to bring this about involves plenty of profitable work for every citizen.

The idea of an eventual breakup of the U.S. has been floating around for awhile now, because the dictates from Washington simply no longer represent the best interests of the people of various regions.

California has been pushing the envelop for years now toward increasing sustainability, despite the rueful resistance of the current administration. Seeing Oakland emerge as a leader makes so much good common sense, especially since it includes the people who have been left our of this country's immense material wealth!

I live in Sedona, Arizona, where you could count the poor people on one hand, yet the city government has little or no interest in anything to do with going green or sustainability. I would think wealthy comunities like Sedona might find it easier to make a committment to going for the green of sustainability.

However, despite our local laggardliness, I believe a wave of green consciousness growing, like the wave of controlled tobacco use grew. It will reach the point where the barriers of the old box, status quo thinking will be broken, and we will be empowered to create a future we really believe is worth working for!

So, a big thank you to Oakland!

Patrick Hickey -- Sedona, Arizona

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like all jobs programs, a slush fund, pork barrel, to see which local politican can front a minority contractor and be first to the trough.

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And industrialism will STILL be unsustainable.

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anyone know which community colleges are offering alternative energy/building classes?
this article is six months old, it's six months later....
where are the programs?
i'd love to be involved (1/2 an hour from oakland)

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The field of study you want is called 'Architecture' and 'Engineering'.

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It's so nice to see something written about Oakland other than the usual racist/classist caricatures cooked up by people who've never set foot there. I lived there for several wonderful years, and yes, it does have more than its fair share of problems, mostly stemming from the injustices of globalization. But I was always amazed how the vast majority of people there, no matter how dire their situations or how low their level of formal education, are so kind-hearted, so genuinely committed to progressive ideals, and so able to think creatively and intelligently beyond the constraints of the American status quo. The willingness of Oaklanders to communicate respectfully and find common cause with those who are ostensibly very different from themselves is truly unique and magical, and like the author, I trust that this will ultimately be the salvation of the city.

I really hope and believe that Oakland will make a comeback, and that unlike other cities (e.g. New York), it won't be a matter of "solving" the city's problems simply by driving out the people who have the most problems and handing the place over on a silver platter to affluent colonizers. Oakland really deserves to be, and is poised to finally become, a true model for cities across the country.

Sorry to gush so much, I just love Oakland with all my heart, and am grateful to the author for contributing an article that is at once informative, interesting, and, strangest of all, so conducive to hopefulness.

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