Government-mandated and -subsidized ethanol from corn will go down in history as the "Iraq War" of environmental solutions: ill-considered, costly, and disastrous.
Van JonesRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Economic development focused on ecological sustainability can create safer communities without relying solely on police and prisons.
Van Jones emphasizes that true safety and peace in communities are better achieved through thoughtful, sustainable economic development rather than through an increase in law enforcement and incarceration. By fostering an economy that respects the environment, not only can we foster safe streets, but we can also help lift individuals out of poverty, creating a more equitable and sustainable society.
Themes
SafetyEconomic DevelopmentEnvironmentCommunityPovertySustainability
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community development, one might use this quote to advocate for investments in green jobs.
More from Van Jones
All quotes →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.
Van JonesRead
Will the new environmental leaders fight for eco-equity in this new "green economy" they are birthing?
Van JonesRead
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.
Van JonesRead
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.
Van JonesRead
When you take the people who most need work and connect them with the work that most needs doing, you save. You save that young person’s life, you save a whole bunch of money, and you save the soul of this country when you invest and give people a chance, give people hope, give people opportunity.
Van JonesRead
Similar quotes
Do I really want to be integrated into a burning house?
James A. BaldwinRead
The United Nations exists not merely to preserve the peace but also to make change - even radical change - possible without violent upheaval. The United Nations has no vested interest in the status quo. It seeks a more secure world, a better world, a world of progress for all peoples. In the dynamic world society which is the objective of the United Nations, all peoples must have equality and equal rights.
Ralph BuncheRead
I think it's harder for people than it should be. But as more and more of us become carbon neutral and change the patterns in our lives to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem, we are now beginning to see the changes in policy that are needed.
Al GoreRead
You can't change your past but you can change you destiny but deciding for Christ.
Billy GrahamRead
We are here to change the world with small acts of thoughtfulness done daily rather than with one great breakthrough.
Harold S. KushnerRead
If you don't like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.
Marian Wright EdelmanRead