The Opportunity of Beating $ Billion Oil Power

Note: This blog is part of a series. See part 1 and part 2. 

The opportunity of beating billion dollar oil power is jobs. Specifically, green jobs. 

Getting green jobs creation onto the 2012 presidential agenda could slow or stop Federal support of unsustainable $ billion enterprise. From this day forward when speaking in a political context, environmentalism = jobs and national security, 1st, preservation of species and planet, 2nd.

Here's a vision: Executive directors from America's leading national environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club, Environmental Defense, and the NRDC, come together as one body of leaders on the national media stage. These leaders should build cross-community support for their agenda, which identifies the destructive power of today's brown industrial technologies, demonstrates stress on America's future, and calls on this nexus to empower corner turning, stability-building, green jobs growth. The overall goal should be to put people to work in sustainable enterprise at scale to today's environmental challenges, and to disempower the alternatives.

The Keystone XL Tar Sands pipeline decision presents a rare opportunity for energizing Americans on government-led, incentivized and regulated, green jobs development and subsequent transition out of the brown economy. By pushing Obama to lead on green economic development environmentalists can help unite Americans around the noble causes of restoration, sustainable economic growth and equitable jobs development. America's environmental leaders must be a leading voice in the 2012 election process. They must stand up and unite Americans around economic opportunities, which turn the corner on environmental problem making.

Now is the time.

Our national security, longevity, order, and health are at stake, particularly in light of our society's most common concerns:

• fossil fuels
• water
• food
• jobs

Rapid, billion-dollar-scale development of a green jobs economy is America's middle path, the single most effective step forward for solving big environmental problems. Continued Federal investment and support of a brown jobs economy will worsen America's short and long term well-being.