Kelpie Wilson | Waiting for the Energy
Van Jones, an environmental and social activist and cofounder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, California, was interviewed on the radio program Living on Earth last week about the impact of solar jobs on the American workforce:
"There's a wonderful program, which I just can't stop bragging on, called 'Solar Richment,' [(sic) Kelpie means "Solar Richmond"] where they got a modest amount of money, got 20 guys - you know low-income African-American, Latino, Filipino, one African-American woman. For nine weeks these guys got up, this young woman got up, every morning. They had to be there at nine o'clock. They had to learn these skills. Nine weeks later they did their first installation. There were local TV cameras there, solar employers were there saying, 'hey, we need workers.' And you know, the look on these young people's faces. Often these are the young men who are always seen as the villains and yet here they are, nine weeks later, African-American, Latino, with the baggy pants, the hair or whatever, but they've got their work boots on, they've got their orange jerseys on, and they're doing this work. And they are the ecological heroes."
Solar Richmond is solving two problems at once - urban unemployment and the low self esteem that goes with it, and rising power costs. Thank God someone's doing it.
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It is effort such as this that can help bring people out of poverty, and not the more common practice of just throwing money at those living in poverty. We all know that it is not good to feed wildlife, as it causes them to become dependent on us, and we will not always be there. It is exactly the same with those who need a better life. When we throw money at a problem, we actually cause the problem to fester. When one has someone else wiping their butts, why do it yourself? This solar thing is GREAT! That is how I too fight poverty. I will hire them, and not advance money to them but rather pay them for work performed. Welfare is a sorry approach to a large problem. And getting people out of poverty is everyones obligation, because everyone benefits. If a guy has a good income, he will be much less apt to steal or otherwise deprive you of what is yours.
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