Green Jobs Pioneer Van Jones To Speak At Michigan Summit

Van Jones will be the keynote speaker at the Michigan Summit: Blueprint for Change event

In East Lansing on Saturday, June 12, former White House advisor Van Jones will be the keynote speaker at the Michigan Summit: Blueprint for Change event. Join the Michigan League of Conservation Voters when we hear the globally recognized, award-winning pioneer in human rights and the clean-energy economy bring his positive message of change to Michigan.

The list of challenges we face in Michigan is long: unemployment, poverty, rising utility costs, years of pollution and negative impacts on our natural treasures. But Van Jones looks at that list and sees a way to address the problems with one great solution: green jobs.

Jones, White House advisor for green jobs, was ousted from that position after an all-too-brief tenure, and is now a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Washington, DC-based think tank. His work focuses on exploring the place where human rights, disadvantaged communities and clean energy jobs meet.

His last Michigan appearance was in March, at the Urban Green Summit in Detroit, where he then spoke to the capacity of Detroit to create jobs in urban agriculture among the thousands of acres of abandoned and dilapidated properties.

This visit is also timely, given that the Senate likely will be considering clean energy and climate legislation before its August recess, which if enacted could spur the growth of clean energy businesses and thousands of new jobs.

We need jobs that can support families without sacrificing the health and future of our environment. Here in Michigan, where we stand on the cusp of a clean energy jobs revolution, Jones’ message is vital to remaking our economy so we all share in the promise of prosperous and healthy future.

-Posted by Mark Neisler

-Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images North America