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By Kari Fulton for TheRoot.com

Published August 12, 2009

On August 4, 2009 Rev. Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus andPhaedra Ellis-Lamkins of Green For All sat in a room surrounded by a diverse group of notable national leaders: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, and Department of Energy Under Secretary Kristina Johnson to announce a campaign that is sure to change how America looks at going green.

Green the Block is a national campaign and coalition led by the Hip Hop Caucus and Green For All working to ensure that low-income communities and communities of color have the resources and platforms needed to access the benefits and opportunities of the growing clean-energy economy. Rev. Yearwood calls this "our lunch counter moment of the 21st century." I call it about damn time.

Read the Full Article on TheRoot.com

Thank you, President Ciara;

To the NABJ Board of Directors and Membership;

To Mark, whom I had the pleasure of meeting yesterday;

I’m glad to be with you today.  I’ve been asked here to help answer a very important question:Will the millions of green and clean energy jobs being promised reach the black community? And the answer to that question is, “Yes – they have and they will.”

Earlier this week I was at the White House with a coalition of groups launching an initiative called Green the Block. I was honored to be there with Dr. Dorothy Height, the last living person to stand on stage with Dr. King at the March on Washington.

This was a forum dedicated to the idea that putting environmental green on the block helps put more economic green on the block. And it was happening a few hundred feet from the Oval Office.

There, I announced more than $61 million to accelerate the clean up of polluted development sites.  Almost $7 million of that will go towards training workers in the community to fill those jobs.

And that’s just a fraction of what we’ve invested in clean ups and energy efficiency projects in our communities. There are some other extraordinary things happening in our communities as well.

I visited West Philadelphia High School where students are working on an innovative hybrid car. The vast majority of students at West Philly – almost 100 percent – are black. Many of them come from disadvantaged, under served neighborhoods. The hybrid car they’re building has outperformed models built by university teams and private companies.

We, the leaders of North American reaffirm the urgency and necessity of taking aggressive action on climate change.  We stress that the experience developed during the last 15 years in the North American region on environmental cooperation, sustainable development, and clean energy research, development, and deployment constitutes a valuable platform for climate change action, and we resolve to make use of the opportunities offered by existing bilateral and trilateral institutions.

We recognize the broad scientific view that the increase in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels ought not to exceed 2 degrees C, we support a global goal of reducing global emissions by at least 50% compared to 1990 or more recent years by 2050, with developed countries reducing emissions by at least 80% compared to 1990 or more recent years by 2050.

We share a vision for a low-carbon North America, which we believe will strengthen the political momentum behind a successful outcome at the 15^th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC meeting this December, and support our national and global efforts to combat climate change.  To achieve our low-carbon development goals, and consistent with our respective circumstances and capacities, we agree to the following:

How Health Insurance Reform Will Help Children?

• Dental, Vision and Hearing Coverage for all Children: Many health plans do not provid coverage for needed child services, and 12% of children have not had a doctor’s visit in the past year. Health reform will not only require coverage for basic pediatric services, but also dental, vision, and hearing needs, which improves kids’ ability to learn and perform at school.
• More Pediatric Providers Where Kids Need Them: Approximately 22 million children lack access to a primary care provider because of shortages. Health reform will invest in school?based clinics and will expand the health care workforce – including pediatricians, pediatric nurse practitioners, and pediatric oral health professionals – to ensure that children have access to doctors, nurses and high quality health care.
• Improve Quality of Care for Children: A recent study found that children receive recommended care less than half of the time. Health reform will develop children’s quality priorities and promote children’s quality measurement and reporting to improve the care that our nation’s children receive.

Posted on White House Blog:

We're moving full speed ahead toward a 21^st century, clean energy economy. Through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we've already invested more than $60 billion toward the green jobs of tomorrow. But as we're moving ahead, we've got to make sure we're not leaving others behind.

That's what makes programs like the Green the Block campaign so important. Green the Block is a partnership between Green for All and the Hip Hop Caucus to educate and mobilize low-income, traditionally under-served communities to ensure they have the resources and platforms needed to access the benefits and opportunities of the growing clean energy economy.

Today, several Obama Administration officials -- including Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson, and Department of Energy Under Secretary Kristina Johnson -- and members of Green the Block held a press conference outside the West Wing offices of the White House to discuss opportunities in the new green economy and announce the first major initiative of Green the Block.

"From policy creation to community implementation, the Green the Block campaign wants to see access and opportunity created for all Americans, to build prosperity and a healthier planet for future generations," said Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. of the Hip Hop Caucus. "The first milestone for Green the Block will be on our National Day of Service, September 11, 2009, where we will organize Green the Block service events around the country in coordination with the President's initiative, United We Serve."

"We are ready to work, ready to serve, and ready to green our blocks," added Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins of Green for All.

Check out the Article on the White House Blog

What do Green Jobs look like? Check out this video to see some in action!

Check out our Green the Block Initiative