It’s official: green policies are good for the economy.   The New York Times reports today that energy-efficient policies created 1.5 million jobs over 30 years in California, while eliminating only 25,000.

The money that green policies save people from spending on energy can be diverted elsewhere, the theory goes, which can then “create jobs among retailers, wholesalers, food processors and other businesses.”  From the article:

The study, conducted by David Roland-Holst, an economist at the Center for Energy, Resources and Economic Sustainability at the University of California, Berkeley, found that while the state’s policies lowered employee compensation in the electric power industry by an estimated $1.6 billion over that period, it improved compensation in the state over all by $44.6 billion.

That’s a whole lot of extra money running around the state.   Imagine what nationwide green policies could do - hypothetically, they could help restart this flagging economy of ours.   Cause, if you hadn’t noticed, there have been some problems.

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So, while the stack of books I plan to read threatens to topple over on me one day, I continue to add to the intimidating collection with inspiring books such as The Green Collar Economy by Van Jones. Without having read it yet, I recommend you get yourself a copy right now and start reading.   Jones’ book, as you might have guessed, examines our urgent need and potential to tackle both the economic and environmental crises that we now face.   I saw Jones speak last month at Slow Food Nation and, along with the rest of the audience, was awestruck by his refreshingly candid vision for how we can change course for the better.   Support for this vision has come from all over, including Al Gore:

Van Jones demonstrates conclusively that the best solutions for the survivability of our planet are also the best solutions for everyday Americans.

The promotional efforts for The Green Collar Economy have been entirely grass-roots, and yet it managed to hit #17 on Amazon’s overall best sellers, #2 for a non-fiction book, #1 for economics, and #1 at Powells.com.   There’s still a chance it could make it to the New York Times Best Seller list, so I highly encourage you to grab a copy and support this important effort.

takepart by ordering a copy from Powell’s, a great independent, unionized bookstore, or find an independent bookstore near you that carries The Green Collar Economy.

The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

TakePart Gang:

Sudan Leader Charged with Genocide: What Are the Reactions? by Wendy Cohen

Inconvenient Truth of the Day: Al Gore Speaks on Climate Change by Joshua Tremblay

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Nicole Hughes:

“Farms in the Sky” a Solution to Global Food Crisis?

Wal-Mart Launches Eco-Bling Project

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Andy Kondrat:

NYC To Bring in 300 Hybrid Taxis Per Month

Coolio To Educate Students On Climate Change

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Jon Popham:

Pickens’ Plan for Energy Independence

On “Rent” Closing, the East Village, and Gentrification

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Gina Telaroli:

Batman Morals: Top 5 Lessons from the Capped Crusader’s Films

Emmy Nominations Kick “The Wire” to the Curb

Remember Coolio? You know, Gangsta’s Paradise? Fantastic Voyage? That weird feud with ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic? Kinda ringing some bells? Awesome. I bring this up because Coolio is the latest big name to join the green movement, as he has agreed to speak at historically black colleges and universities about climate change.

The talks are part of the EJCC (Environmental Justice and Climate Change) HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) initiative, and are also in conjunction with Al Gore’s We (not actually an acronym) program. The director of EJCC, Nia Robinson, announced the program on Friday, and per AllHipHop.com,

‘The effects of climate change fall disproportionately on people of color, Indigenous Peoples, and low-income communities,’ said Robinson about the importance of student involvement in the initiative. ‘Black college students must be on the frontlines educating their communities and contributing their voices to the policy debate.’

We here at takepart have highlighted (highlit?) people like Van Jones, who see the necessity of discussing global warming and with people from all walks of life.

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Van Jones, an environmentalist and social activist based in Oakland, is trying to bridge the gap between eco-causes and inner city poverty. His goal is to make environmentalism not just the popular cause of the moment, but a positive force for low-income families, and the economy as a whole. Jones, cofounder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights and colorofchange.org, sees an intrinsic link between a sustainable green economy and reversing the plight of the lower class. In the March 2008 edition of The Sun Magazine, Jones spoke about what steps he is taking to achieve these goals.

Having spent time on the firing lines of civil rights activism as well as with the bluebloods at Yale Law, Jones sees both sides of what he calls eco-apartheid.

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