The green economy should not just be about reclaiming throw-away stuff. It should be about reclaiming thrown-away communities. It should not just be about recycling things to give them a second life. We should also be gathering up people and giving them a second chance.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of revitalizing not just materials but also communities and individuals.
Van Jones advocates for a holistic approach to the green economy that goes beyond mere recycling of materials to include the rejuvenation of communities and the empowerment of individuals. He suggests that sustainability should encompass social responsibility, allowing people, especially those marginalized, to find new opportunities and chances to thrive as part of this economic shift.
In practice
In a speech on social entrepreneurship, this quote can highlight the importance of community investment.
The surest path to safe streets and peaceful communities is not more police and prisons, but ecologically sounds economic development. And that same path can lift us to a new, green economy - one with the power to lift people out of poverty while respecting and repairing the environment.
Government-mandated and -subsidized ethanol from corn will go down in history as the "Iraq War" of environmental solutions: ill-considered, costly, and disastrous.
We have the chance to build this new energy economy in ways that reflect our deepest values of inclusion, diversity, and equal opportunity for everyone.
Will the new environmental leaders fight for eco-equity in this new "green economy" they are birthing?
Our point of view is, lets not be so elitist that we can't honor good, hard, dignified, ennobling work: people working with their hands, building things, putting up solar panels, weatherizing homes, working on organic agriculture, building wind farms. We don't have robots in society, so somebody has to do that work. Lets make sure that the people who can use that work get a chance to do it. I see that as a first step toward bigger and better things.
We pull out of the ground death, we burn death in our power plants, and then we act shocked when we get death in the form of oil spills and global warming.
Social change involves helping people see new options for making life wonderful that are less costly to get needs met.
One of the triumphs of the Civil Rights Movement is that when you travel through the South today, you do not feel overwhelmed by a residue of grievance and hate.
Nothing is more dangerous to men than a sudden change of fortune.
You have to change your mind with every orchestra because every orchestra has a different character.
When you want to change things, you can't please everyone. If you do please everyone, you aren't making enough progress.
President Kennedy's election was such an enlargement. It expanded religious freedom to include the highest office in the land. President Kennedy's administration was such an enlargement. It advanced the day when the bars of intolerance against all minority groups will be lifted, not only for the presidency, but for all aspects of our national life.
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