It’s Getting Hot In Here

So a man walks up to me in a bar in Delhi and asks, “Are there really more jobs in wind power than in coal energy in the United States?” I feel like I’m in the middle of an amazingly bad joke, or that he’s read in my eyes that I only like to talk about green jobs no matter what time of day or night and this is the only line that will get me talking. He tells me, “Al Gore and Ban Ki-Moon said so, and that there are more jobs in renewable energy than in oil and gas worldwide.”

Can’t argue with that.

The movement for green jobs is everywhere, and it is the only solution to get us out of this financial and ecological crisis. The stimulus package in the United States and similarly in China are starting to recognize this – that “green is not an option but a necessity for recharging their economies and creating jobs.” I hope that the Indian government will soon follow suit. Gore and Ban Ki-Moon are also hoping for this, calling on all global governments to create a “synchronised global response,” making “growing green” the goal of every government. First, they must start “expanding green stimulus elements, including energy efficiency, renewables, mass transit, new smart electricity grids and reforestation, and to co-ordinate their efforts for rapid results… Second, we need “pro-poor” policies now… Third, we need a robust climate deal in Copenhagen in December. Not next year. This year. Copenhagen will provide the green light for green growth.”

Gore and Ban Ki-Moon end by saying, “For millions of people from Detroit to Delhi these are the worst of times… We must not let the urgent undermine the essential. Investing in the green economy is not an optional expense. It is a smart investment for a more equitable, prosperous future.” Speaking from Delhi, times are bad for millions. But opportunities are good. If Delhiites are talking about American wind jobs instead of American banking jobs, change is blowing in!