Dear Story of Stuff Community,Remember at the end of the Story of Stuff film, when I said there is a new school of thought on how to organize the material economy and it is based on sustainability and equity? While there are many people doing critical work promoting this new school all over the world, I was especially thinking about my friend Van Jones when I wrote that. Van is the director of Green for All (www.greenforall.org), a U.S.-based organization dedicated to building an inclusive green economy strong enough to lift people out of poverty.Over the years, I’ve learned a ton from Van about strategies to promote ecological sustainability AND economic justice. Van’s message is really important because too often environmental protection and economic development are presented as at odds with each other. Just this past weekend, a member of the Berkeley City Council came knocking on my door, as they do annually, just before the election. I told him I was concerned about the Pacific Steel plant down the street which is belching out tons of neurotoxins into my neighborhood, where kids still play outside. (For more information on Berkeley’s big local polluter, see: www.shellfacts.com/article.php?list=type&type=37).

The City Council member nodded empathetically but patronizingly explained to me that he needed to balance environmental concerns with jobs. I told him that dichotomy is so 1980s. There’s a new school of thinking on this! We can – indeed we must –invest in economic development that cares for both the environment and workers. There are loads of good, clean, safe jobs to be had in a transition to a green, sustainable economy.

This week, Van released a new book which explains strategies to advance the green job agenda.

The book is called: “The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems” by Van Jones. It is a really important book that needs to be read by city planners, mayors, presidential candidates and all of us concerned with the future of our communities and the planet.Now, I don’t usually advocate buying anything, but I want to ask any of you who are interested in buying this book to do so now. You see, when a new book is published, the first week of sales makes a big difference in how much visibility the book gets. If over 5,000 books are sold this week, it can make the New York Times Best Sellers List which could raise the visibility of these crucial issues at a time when we most need it. This is the exact moment when our political leaders should be looking for innovative approaches to address the combination of environmental deterioration, the need for clean safe energy and the growing economic divide in this country. Van has provided a road map that we can help get in front of local and national leaders.I bought one copy for me and one for that City Council Member.Here’s some information below from Van about the book and how to get a copy. If you want to know more about Van’s work, check out www.greenforall.org. And if you do get the book, please post some comments. I’d love to hear how Van’s ideas resonate with you and your community.Read on! Annie

The Green Collar Economy:
How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems – by Van Jones

Get the book now! | Share it with your friends“Van Jones demonstrates conclusively that the best solutions for the survivability of our planet are also the best solutions for everyday Americans.” – Al GoreNY Times columnist Thomas Friedman quotes Van Jones, saying, “It’s time to stop borrowing and start building. America’s number one resource is not oil or mortgages. Our number one resource is our people. Let’s put people back to work – retrofitting and repowering America.” (9/28/08)

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Our country is facing serious times. On the heels of sky-high fuel prices this summer, a massive financial crisis has sent the economy into a tailspin this fall.Green For All founder Van Jones has proposed a powerful green cure. His first book, The Green Collar Economy, hits bookstores on October 7.

Pick up your copy and learn how we can move the country toward a fully clean and renewable economy – one strong enough to fight pollution, cut poverty and put America back to work.Get the book now! | Share it with your friendsInside The Book – Real Solutions for Both Planet and PeopleMore than ever our country needs real solutions to our energy, economic and ecological crises. Answers to these tough questions are between the covers of The Green Collar Economy:

• How can the next U.S. president create millions of new green jobs?
• How can we lower energy prices without drilling our shorelines and burning up our planet?
• How can the government help create energy independence – at practically zero cost to the tax payer?
• What is eco-apartheid? What is eco-equity?

Buy your copy of The Green Collar Economy now and find out the answers to these and other critical questions of our times. See how people’s lives are changing with green pathways out of poverty and into prosperity.Spread The Word!Use our easy Spread the Word Tool to tell your friends about this timely book.Help Make Publishing HistoryNo African-American author has ever written an environmentally-themed book that became a best seller. Strong sales will pave the way for other vital new voices in the environmental movement!Buy The Green Collar Economy now and share it with your friends.Help get the message to Congress!Buy extra copies of The Green Collar Economy.  Ship them to:Green for All
1611 Telegraph Avenue, Suite 600
Oakland CA 94612We’ll send you a thank you receipt for your in-kind donations and we’ll send the autographed copies to your congressperson – and to every congressperson, governor and state representative in the country. Let our policy makers know that we need an inclusive green cure for the national crisis!For more information about the book, visit www.vanjones.netP.S. Special for book groups, community groups and educators who want to study this topic more deeply: a video and book curriculum will be available on www.greenforall.org and www.VanJones.net.