Can going green end poverty? We certainly know it helps the earth. But in a time when blue-collar jobs are disappearing rapidly, how can we get the underclasses of America to care about saving the planet. They can barely afford food and decent housing; they have to worry about getting caught in the crossfire of gang warfare. So how can a person trapped in poverty with no access to higher education, ascend into the middle class. Our grandparents did it by working in manufacturing. A man could readily support his family on a shop-workers wages. They certainly weren't rich but they knew if they worked hard and were loyal to the company, they would be rewarded. That kind of certainty no longer exists. Manufacturers are far from loyal to their workers, chasing the almighty buck all the way to Brazil.
Well some believe that a push for a green economy would provide a niche for today's would-be laborers. If the government regulated energy usage, people would be forced to change. There would be an awful lot of buildings in need of retro-fitting because it is always cheaper to use less than to generate more energy, especially if that new energy must come from renewable sources. I think the administration has it backwards when they support tax breaks and subsidies for big energy companies. By denying them the ability to get rich off of cheap, but dwindling energy reserves, they are forced to create jobs of the green-collar type. People will simply have to hire someone to do the update their buildings to save on energy costs. It's the only solution that will make financial sense.
There are good many of us who already see the green wave coming. We all need to work together to make sure that everyone gets to ride it up to a better life.
Articles and websites on the green economy:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/opinion/17friedman.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
http://greenforall.org/
http://urbanhabitat.org/node/528
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/48490/
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