Building the Clean Energy Economy, City by City

by: Josh Tulkin

Thu Feb 18, 2010 at 12:47:49 PM EST

Within the Washington DC bubble, it may can feel as if the fight for good green jobs is hitting serious roadblocks.  The prospects of a federal climate and energy bill (a major vehicle for green jobs policy) is at best third on the Obama Administrations priority list.  Pending jobs legislation may offers an opportunity to fight for good green jobs, but overall its a tough climate.  But that doesn't mean we're not making progress.  

Beyond the bubble of Washington, there is evidence every day that the clean energy economy is growing in a city near you.  As part of its "Easy Being Green" series, the Center for American Progress released a study on the "Top Five Cities for Green Jobs"  which highlights green jobs advances in San Francisco, Boston, New York City, Detroit and Portland Oregon.

Since creating our Just Green Jobs initiative, Jewish Funds for Justice has been working to leverage our programs to support a shift to the green economy.  As a first step, we've partnered with Sustainable South Bronx to connect students on our service learning trips to their excellent work "Greening the Ghetto".   In the coming months, we'll update you as we ramp up this program and offer more opportunities to create green economic opportunity in your community.