Van Jones: Why Should Companies Get to Pollute for Free? July 29, 2010

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/06/29/Van_Jones_Inforums_21st_Century_Visionary_Award

Environmentalist Van Jones calls for a "serious" climate and energy bill to stop companies from dumping "planet-cooking pollution" into the atmosphere. "If you take away that right to pollute for free," says Jones, "you send a signal to the only force in the world that can solve this problem - the entrepreneur."

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Van Jones broke new ground with his proposal for a green-collar economy, stating that "the time has come to move beyond eco-elitism to eco-populism." He fights for environmental justice and to create an economy that is both sustainable and that lifts up the poorest communities through green-collar jobs.

Jones describes how the third wave of environmentalism -- the investment wave -- could solve inequality and catastrophe with a "Green New Deal" mindset. The Commonwealth Club awards Van Jones a 21st Century Visionary Award for guiding the nation to ecological equality. - Commonwealth Club of California

Van Jones is a globally recognized, award-winning pioneer in human rights and the clean-energy economy. Jones is a co-founder of three successful non-profit organizations: the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Color of Change and Green For All. He is the best-selling author of the definitive book on green jobs: The Green-Collar Economy. He served as the green jobs advisor in the Obama White House in 2009.

Jones is currently a senior fellow at the Center For American Progress. Additionally, he is a senior policy advisor at Green For All.

Jones also holds a joint appointment at Princeton University, as a distinguished visiting fellow in both the Center for African American Studies and in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.