Oakland creates jobs by going green - by Van Jones and Ben Wyskida, YES! magazine
A “green-collar job” involves environment-friendly products or services. Construction work on a green building, organic farming, solar panel manufacturing, bicycle repair: all are “green jobs.” The green-collar economy is big money, and it's booming. Including renewable energy and clean technology, “green” is the fifth largest market sector in the United States.
In the Bay Area, we have seen boom times before. The dot-com era rose and fell all around us, but for low-income people and people of color that wave didn't even register, boom or bust. The question we're asking here in Oakland—that 300 people turned out to answer—is, can the green wave lift all boats?