If you’re waiting for the green revolution to take off, I’m here to tell you, that train has already left the station. The technologies are here and, at last, so are the government policies and funds to support them. Now, Black Chicago, it&rsq
If you’re waiting for the green revolution to take off, I’m here to tell you, that train has already left the station. The technologies are here and, at last, so are the government policies and funds to support them. Now, Black Chicago, it’s time for you to take your place.
The good news is that there’s still time for the African-American community to get on board and benefit from the new green economy. The incentives to get moving are obvious: States are poised to receive $34 billion in federal grants for energy efficient projects, $8 billion for renewable energy sources and $10 billion to remake the electrical grid, which add up to new jobs, new business opportunities and a cleaner, safer planet.
What isn’t so obvious is how to access green opportunities in the public and private sectors. Accessibility is already a huge problem, and nowhere does that statement apply more than in the African-American and Hispanic communities. Truth be told, a lot of people couldn’t name one green job, or describe what it means to be a green business.
So, on Monday, April 20, in an effort to jump-start the discussion, the Chicago Urban League is teaming up with the Illinois Environmental Council and the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus to host the forum, Catching the Green Wave: How African-American Chicago Can Lead In the New Green Economy, at Ariel Community Academy, 1119 East 46 Street, in the auditorium from 10 a.m. to noon. We have invited business owners, employment and environmental experts and legislative leaders to discuss the opportunities for growth and wealth creation in the new green economy.
Speakers will include state Rep. Will Davis, D-30th Dist., who will talk about green jobs legislation; a representative from the Chicago Department of Environment, who will lay out Chicago’s climate action plan; and the new director of the Illinois Environmental Council Charles Jackson, who will discuss why cooperation among community, government, business and environmental leaders is essential to ensure inclusion, accountability and equal opportunity.
Jackson is the first African-American to head the IEC and a rare person of color at the forefront of the green movement. In the interest of full disclosure, he is also my hubby.
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