In celebration of Earth Day and the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning's 35th anniversary, the organization hosted a lecture by Van Jones last night in Cohen Auditorium, where he urged students to confront the world's environmental crisis.
Jones is the founder and president of Green For All, an organization seeking to build an inclusive, green economy "with the marriage of environmental and economic concerns," Provost Jamshed Bharucha said.
Jones said that it is most important to recognize that the current environmental situation in the United States is not acceptable.
"I don't think you can understand what's happening in America if you don't recognize that we're living in a country that makes up only four percent of the [world's] population but 25 percent of greenhouse gases and 25 percent of [the world's] prisoners," he said. "Some people think we have a disposable planet and disposable people."
Last year, Jones helped to push the Green Jobs Act of 2007 through Congress. The bill allotted $5 million to train 35,000 people a year in green-collar jobs, or working-class occupations at companies seeking to improve the environment.
Jones's motto, "green-collar jobs and not jails," promotes eco-friendly reforms that create jobs across the nation.
In this manner, he hopes to build a green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty. "If we're going to beat global warming, we're going to have to weatherize millions of buildings to cut down on energy. That's thousands of contracts. That's millions of jobs,"
he said.
He said that as energy prices and carbon emissions continue to rise, people are losing hope in the current systems and are beginning to look for new ideas with bold solutions.
Jones particularly emphasized the role young people should play in supporting a green economy.
"You young scholars have the most important role," he said. "This is a time where we need not another Dr. [Martin Luther] King but 10,000 more Dr. King's ... Ten thousand more world-class giants, and then maybe we'll have a chance."
Currently, he said, government is on the side of the problem makers. He proposed the creation of a "green new deal coalition" in which government was put back on the side of the people and the environment.
He added that it is up to this generation of young Americans to turn the state of the environment around.
In prior generations, he said, "we made it cool to be mediocre, to be a slacker, to be cynical. What we need from you now is not the easy cynicism and small dreams ... The universe has put you in the game at this moment when it really fundamentally matters what you do," Jones said.
The lecture concluded with a standing ovation from the audience and a question-and-answer-session.
