Van Jones

How much more rope can Rupert Murdoch afford to give Glenn Beck and his brand of race-baiting demagoguery?

Back in February, when his New York Post published a cartoon widely perceived to be a racist slur on the new president, the media grandmaster himself issued a statement of apology:

As the Chairman of the New York Post, I am ultimately responsible for what is printed in its pages. The buck stops with me.

Last week, we made a mistake. We ran a cartoon that offended many people. Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted.

Over the past couple of days, I have spoken to a number of people and I now better understand the hurt this cartoon has caused. At the same time, I have had conversations with Post editors about the situation and I can assure you - without a doubt - that the only intent of that cartoon was to mock a badly written piece of legislation. It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such.

We all hold the readers of the New York Post in high regard and I promise you that we will seek to be more attuned to the sensitivities of our community.

So where is Rupert Murdoch now that Glenn Beck has brought the issue of racism to the company's doorstep again with his attacks on President Obama and the president's green jobs adviser Van Jones?

In the shadow of a sluggish U.S. economy and unemployment at 8.5 percent, green jobs are beginning to take root across the United States, and they’re expected to grow rapidly as the federal stimulus money works its way into the economy in the coming months.

In 2007, the nation had 504,000 jobs directly involved in renewable energy technologies: wind, solar, hydroelectric, geothermal, biomass, fuel cells and hydrogen. It claimed 8.6 million energy efficiency jobs in the areas of recycling, reuse and remanufacturing, household appliances, HVAC systems, construction, and auto manufacturing.

By 2030, the American Solar Energy Society estimates those numbers will swell to 7.3 million and 30 million respectively.

"Few people in this room can truly appreciate what this award means to the people of Alberta."

That was Alberta’s Energy Minister Mel Knight speaking last night as he accepted an environmental award from the Aspen Institute. You'd think it was the year 2030, the world had gotten a leg up on climate change, and Alberta had played an instrumental role. Fade in the sentimental music, take out the handkerchiefs, cut to commercial.

No such miracle, alas. Instead, a large and disturbing dose of wishful thinking: an award given for an effort that has barely begun — Alberta’s Carbon Capture and Storage Initiative — involving the largest and dirtiest energy project on the face of the Earth. The tar sands-supporting government of Alberta was being honored alongside true climate leaders Van Jones and A123 Systems for its supposed good intentions, which many environmental groups fear is merely a greenwashing campaign.

Environmentalists in the room cringed, but others at the forum must have appreciated that award as much as Alberta did – starting with the forum's corporate sponsors: Duke Energy, Shell Oil and General Motors.

The nation’s most influential evangelist for green jobs, Green For All founder Van Jones, will likely be joining the Obama administration’s green jobs effort soon, though it won't be as a "Green Jobs Czar," as rumors swirling through the blogosphere are suggesting.

We're hearing that Jones likely will be tapped to work with Carol Browner and the Council on Environmental Quality in some capacity.

An announcement is expected later today or tomorrow. Right now, the White House isn't spilling.

UPDATE: CEQ Chair Nancy Sutley just announced that Jones will join the administration next week as Special Adviser for Green Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. He will help direct the administration's efforts to create jobs that benefit the environment, particularly in vulnerable communities.

Jones, who founded the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in Oakland, Calif., combines two issues in his powerful messages:

Anyone interested in a solution to the triple challenges of oil dependence, global warming and the sagging economy has to read this new book by Van Jones on how (and why) we should birth a green-collar economic revolution in America.

It is true that we cannot drill and burn our way out of our present economic and energy problems. We can, however, invent and invest our way out. Choosing to do so on a massive scale would have the practical benefit of cutting energy prices enough—and generating enough work— to pull the U.S. economy out of its present death spiral. But the true benefits would be much greater than that.

A serious shift in our energy strategy would open a new chapter in the story of human civilization.

Flip through the book and you'll see that the "new chapter" in question reads like a wish list for massive change: cleantech revolution, millions of good jobs that can’t be outsourced, the birth of a just and green American economy.