Casting a Wider Net for Green Jobs

More than $200 billion of stimulus funds through the Recovery Act have been earmarked for green jobs programs, yet it is extremely unclear how the communities most devastated by the recession -- women and people of color -- will benefit from these opportunities in the new green economy. Racial and gender equity are not mandated in this recovery, nor is relevant data currently being collected.

The Applied Research Center has released a Green Equity Toolkit to help community organizations, public agencies and individuals maximize the shared benefits of green economy jobs. The Toolkit analyzes the impacts of recently released Recovery data, and provides a guide for creating an equitable, sustainable and inclusive green economy that elevates people of color and women into high-quality jobs. It includes Principles, Goals, Outcomes, Strategies, Success Indicators and Examples for making race, gender and economic equity a priority in green-collar job creation. In the months ahead, the Toolkit will be supplemented by Case Studies and a Model Policy Bank.

Visit www.arc.org/greenjobs to download and read the Toolkit.

To learn more about this toolkit, and to hear about successful campaigns and strategies, register for our webinar on November 18th at 10am PST/1pm EST. The webinar will feature Toolkit coauthors Yvonne Liu and Terry Keleher of the Applied Research Center, along with Elsa Barboza of Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education (SCOPE).

 

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Comments

[BannedNBoston]

Without renegotiating bad trade deals and legalizing hemp the economy will suck.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Obama-backs-away-from-reforming-free-trade-deal_05_18-45264882.html

Obama backs away from reforming free trade deal
By: Susan Ferrechio
Chief Congressional Correspondent
May 18, 2009
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told reporters last month that President Barack Obama will look at all options in relation to the United States’ role in NAFTA. (AP photo)

Congressional Democrats from economically struggling regions are getting frustrated as President Barack Obama backs away from campaign promises to renegotiate NAFTA.

“I am greatly disappointed that the administration seems to have backpedaled on trade, specifically on the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement,” said Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine., who says his state has lost thousands of jobs because of NAFTA. “President Obama campaigned on this issue, and I’m disappointed that he’s walking away from that commitment.”

Just last month, Obama’s trade representative, Ron Kirk, backed off the much tougher stance on the 15-year-old trade agreement between the U.S., Mexico and Canada that the president took last year as he vied for votes in some of the most economically depressed areas of the country.

[Tammy Johnson]

This is an important issue, so I'm glad that groups focused on the needs of people of color like ARC is on top of this.