John Upton, The Examiner
2008-07-22 10:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

SAN FRANCISCO -

The Green For All founder will join incoming California state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg on Thursday evening for a discussion about green-collar jobs at the Commonwealth Club.

What is a green-collar job? A traditional blue-collar vocational job that's been upgraded to better respect the environment — it could be anything from installing solar panels to working in organic agriculture to manufacturing wind turbines.

What is Green For All? It's a national organization that advocates for green-collar jobs and opportunities for disadvantaged communities.

Who in San Francisco stands to benefit from green-collar jobs? All low-income people and people of color who need work — it's the people who've been left out of the pollution-based economy who stand to benefit the most from the transition to a green economy.

What is a pollution-based economy? The economic theories that we've been operating on were created in the 1800s when you had a whole lot of nature and very few people. Now you've got a planet with a whole lot of people and very little nature. A lot of stuff used to be off the books — like carbon and the idea of inexhaustible resources.

How realistic is it to think we can move to a green economy? Well, how realistic is it to think that we're going to be able to base our economy on drilling and burning oil and baking the planet?