On September 29, 2008, I hosted a small event at Westminster College in Salt Lake City in support of a national campaign called Green Jobs Now initiated by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights based in Oakland.   The goal of the campaign was to show our presidential candidates that the country is ready to support a green economy.  About 30 students watched Van Jones' 2007 Bioneers plenary speech with me and then Michael Styles, Program Director of the Utah Martin Luther King Jr. Human Rights Commission spoke to us about the shade of the green economy in Utah.  So what do Oakland and Salt Lake City have in common?  We each struggle with pollution, poverty, and a community of  environmentalists who are not used to thinking about low-income communities and communities of color when they think of climate change or even air pollution.  Inclusivity seems to be the ultimate answer.  If environmentalists engage communities of color in their conversations about the environment, then together they can take action that supports a clean, and safe environment in both the wilderness and in the city. 

The green jobs initiative seems to do this.  supporting green jobs means supporting the consumption of green technologies and providing a stable and clean work environment for people who need it the most.  But I have some questions.  I'm guessing that 25 of the 30 students attending my event were both caucasian and do not live in poverty.  They seem to be ready for green jobs.  Are the people in Salt Lake City who are living in poverty and belong to a minority racial or ethnic group ready for green jobs?  They weren't there to represent themselves.  I'm attempting this inclusivity, but I seemed to have missed the point because all players weren't at the table.  I'm excited to explore my relationship with community members in the environmental arena and with those who don't have the time and energy to worry about polar bears recycled toilet paper.  However, it's a challenge for me to clearly see my role in the larger picture.  I'm a white college student that grew up in a high-income family (about $60,000/year in case you're wondering what “high-income” means to me)  in Utah trying to advocate for environmental justice.  How do I build partnerships with the people who I have developed a concern for who cannot relate to me?  I want to work for just policies, but I cannot do it with a group of students who are just like me.