Thanks to Van Jones for his thoughtful comments about "winning the values argument".  He's right on. If "lifting all people" and "ending eco-apartheid" can become core values of our climate debate, then the Green for All coalition will have won a major victory even if we don't get everything we want when the details of a cap-and-trade (or some other) system are finally agreed upon.

If the values Jones talks about are considered fringe or a sideshow from the "real" issues, we run the risk of winning some nice battles (e.g. funds for much needed training programs) but losing the larger struggle for a truly progressive "green economy".  

Perhaps there's a place for Jones in an Obama administration?    

Kevin Doyle (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) //= 0; i=i-1){ if (l[i].substring(0, 1) == ' ') output += "&#"+unescape(l[i].substring(1))+";"; else output += unescape(l[i]); } document.getElementById('eeEncEmail_8g1vizNp5I').innerHTML = output; //]]>

No one disputes the need for green jobs and social justice, via renewable energy technology and efficiency. But the targets of the Boxer bill will undoubtedly remain so far short of the reductions we need that we will be forced to focus and spend money on defending ourselves and our infrastructure against the imminent impacts of global warming. There won't be much money for "green growth" after we barricade our east coast against sea level rise. Believing that technology and/or the marketplace are enough to fend off climate change is a faith-based, not a science-based belief . They will work only with stringent regulations and drastic reductions in energy consumption. The Boxer bill would in mean a trivial 2% point cut in emissions each year over the next forty years, when climate scientists like James Hansen say we have only a handful of years to make these reductions and cut our CO2 concentrations back from 389 to 350 ppm. If the Boxer bill does not change its target date to 2020, stop coal plants in their track, and end all fossil fuel subsidies, it is not only worthless but outright dangerous. It is time for Jones and the green growth people to help us win the FIRST battle. Promoting green technology before we have definitively warded off the imminent tipping point of climate change is like throwing a post-football game party before winning the game. The game needs to be won within the next five years; if it isn't, those green jobs will turn out to be heaving stones for levees 1500 miles long, along the east coast of the USA.