Green for the Masses

How does that equation differ in a place like rural North Carolina versus the South Bronx?
It doesn't, really. Folks working at the bacon plant in Smithfield or running little community-development corporations are the struggling ones. It's about power—how it's accessed and how it's used.

It seems like they're two very different kinds of communities with two very different sets of environmental problems. Do you have to change your approach in how you push your message?
You know, people understand fear and opportunity. It may look different, but it's really the same thing. So, of course, in a city you're talking about urban horticulture, green roof installation and water management, while in rural areas you're talking about how to reforest abandoned lands, bulk up houses and do vertical farming to deal with some of the coming sea-level rise. But in the end, it's like that Buddhist phrase: people just want someone to love, something to do and something to feel hopeful about. The rest is just figuring out what the specifics are.

I imagine you have to get some really strange bedfellows—policy wonks, businesses, people who have long felt they're getting screwed over by the system—working together to make projects like these happen.
There's often a lot of distrust in many of these relationships. Working in community development in the South Bronx, I saw it. The differences between business and community, community and government … it was bad. But you just have to help people understand that it's in their best interest to work toward a common goal. With the green economy, there's something in it for everybody.

But how do you convince venture capitalists that instead of putting money into Silicon Valley, they should put it into a place in North Carolina they've never heard of?
People are always talking about the bottom line. Well, this is the bottom line. There is the potential for tremendous returns on investments—and I believe there will be going down the pike. But, being realistic, there aren't the supportive subsidies and services for these new ventures as there are for the oil and the coal industries right now. So we are appealing to people's larger sense of self and society to be ahead of the curve. I'm looking for strong, smart people who know that green infrastructure is worth investing in.

If you could pick one idea out there in the zeitgeist to stimulate a green economy, what would it be?
I haven't heard it being talked about much, but I'd like to see a WPA-type project with a huge conservation corps to create jobs, build the national grid, do urban forestry and provide environmental services. I've heard of a lot of money going into job training for the renewable-energy industry, but a lot of those jobs are going to go to people who already have specific skills. It's not going to go to places with 50 percent unemployment rates.

Why do you think you've become a somewhat controversial figure in the activist community?
I don't think I'm very controversial at all. I think I get things done and that gets attention. But I don't know.

What's the biggest green hoax out there these days?
Clean coal. It's just silly.

That was easy. Give me a less obvious one.
Cleaning products. No one needs to buy anything other than vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice to clean their homes.

© 2009