Van Jones: What about a Green Bailout?

posted Monday, 6 October 2008

Again, we don't object to a bailout as such. But what we do object to is the fact that banks and corporations are being given special rights and given the kind of treatment that none of us ever get. And as Van Jones asks, what about a green bailout? Congress, in order to get the bailout passed, rightly attached must-pass legislation for wind and solar onto the final bill in order to win more votes. But Congress must do more -- Jones says that there are over $350 billion worth of programs that could be funded through a green bailout. After all, if the banks are such a big deal to our system, then it is only fair for us to argue that environmental matters are just as urgent if we are to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Both of these are legitimate crises. Both of these problems need to be addressed in some way. But the Republicans can't have their cake and eat it too. They can't claim that we need to bail out their friends in the banking industry and then turn around and say that we shouldn't be in the business of bailing out Planet Earth. The debate has already been settled -- man-made climate change is a crisis that must be addressed. But it is also an opportunity -- it can create millions of new jobs and rescue us from the current binge and spend mentality that dominated both the Reagan and Bush years. Let's put a solar or wind farm in every town in America, a biofuel plant in every town 10,000 or bigger, and an alternative car factory in every town 50,000 or bigger, and let's see how much of a handle we can get on rescuing our economy and ending our dependence on foreign oil to boot.

tags: van jones environment wall street 700 billion bailout banking

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Van Jones: What about a Green Bailout?