Green for All and M2EP

On Monday of M2EP (April 27, 2009), three advisors to the White House spoke to the gathering about the Administration's efforts to reduce poverty.

• Martha Coven, Director of the White House Office of Mobility and Opportunity
  
• Josh Dubois, Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships
• Van Jones, Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation at the Council on Environmental Quality, and founder of Green for All

For now...a brief overview of Jones' comments:
Jones used metaphors of infants, teenagers, bubblegum to make link between energy and green economy and anti-poverty action.

Infants: Infants are delicate but sophisticated bodies, "finely tuned" and "prepared for life." When a baby's temperature rises 1 degree, we notice. When a baby's temperature rises 2 degrees, we become concerned. When a baby's temperature rises 3 degrees, we start to take action. Earth is also a highly developed system, "engineered for life." It's temperature is rising.

Teenagers: Teenagers "tell you they love you. But you find no evidence of that in their behavior." You can't say you love someone, then act disrespectfully (e.g., ignoring house rules, yelling, disrespecting personal property of the other/family). Or, in Jones' words, "You cannot love the creator and disrespect the creation." Words and actions tell the truth. But, as inhabitants of the planet, we seem to have done just that.

Bubblegum: Imagine walking down a city street, popping a piece of bubblegum in your mouth,
then tossing the wrapper on the ground. Also imagine a local police officer right behind you who stops and reminds you that there is a fine for littering (Jones did a delightful job of embellishing the scene with hyperbolic humor). As a good citizen, you concur and agree to pay the fine. The point: anyone who pollutes should pay either fine or fee. You have to pay to pollute.

The summary then:

• Treat the globe like an infant.
• Act like an adult, not a teenager. Don't disrespect the creator by disrespecting the creation.
• If you want to pollute, you have to pay--either fee or fine.