Mr. Inconvenient Truth is in town to receive an award from the National Civil Rights Museum tonight, alongside Diane Nash and B.B. King. What I would love to hear from Al Gore is a ringing endorsement of Green Jobs. Of how the Green Collar Economy is good for workers, and how Memphis in particular could benefit from investing in this industry.
The green potential in Memphis is really exciting. Imagine if even a fraction of the 100,000+ people in Shelby County who are out-of-work, marginalized by lack of transportation options, and lacking more than a high school degree could find meaningful, well-paying work that is good for our local economy and good for the environment?
My good friend and colleague Pete Nelson of BioDimensions makes an important point: the economy of the Mid-South, and the Deep South in general, has been historically characterized by a reliance on cheap products and cheap labor, both of which are expendible. It is time to reassess the value of our land and our people.
Al Gore is a national and international innovator. Hopefully he will see the potential for Memphis to be a leader in the American South in the Green Jobs Movement.
28 October 2008
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