Repost: Van Jones
[ Green for All ]
“When we think of a green economy, it should be an economy where we don’t have any throw away resources. We don’t have any throw away species. We don’t have any throw away children or neighborhood either. We don’t have any throw away nations either.”
- Van Jones
As a resident of East Chicago Indiana this message resonates with me.
Update (9-6-09): Van Jones resigns.
Update (9-5-09): Since the right has turned the heat up on Van Jones in an effort to discredit him and weaken the efforts he has championed, I thought it important to repost this video.
I live in an industrial fenceline community which is home to mostly poor minorities, and I have been apart of regional planning efforts that have not been too kind to them. If you follow this blog you will undoubtedly recognize that the population that lives here does not share in the quality of live most Americans have come to know.
Based on my experience I would say Van Jones’ criticism of industrial policy isn’t strong enough. Not only do East Chicago and Gary receive a disproportionate share of the negative externalities of industry (pollution, disinvestment, congestion, neglect, and the occasional explosion), they also receive a disproportionate share of the benefits. With a low industrial tax rate, these communities receive very little tax benefit. The political leadership has also awarded these industries with tax abatements (BP recently received a $165 million tax abatement in East Chicago). These communities also receive very little wage benefit to support the local population, as most wage earners and contractors choose to live in other less polluted middle-class communities. Most economic development dollars received by industry also go to other less polluted middle-class communities.
One other very important fact that needs to be better articulated is how these industries crowd out, or hold down other markets. This can be attributed to the negative externalities, and the general lack of quality of life.
One example of how this has effected other markets is what happened twenty-five years ago when BP, then Standard Oil, was forced to relocate there professional training facility from Whiting Indiana to Naperville Illinois. They simply could no longer attract professionals to the region due to quality of life issues. They ended up donating their whiting facilities to St. Joseph College. Today, BP’s Naperville facility is a LEED certified campus.
You can find many examples in the housing and retail markets…
