Van Jones.Center for American ProgressVan Jones, who resigned from the White House Council on Environmental Quality last fall in the face of a coordinated smear campaign by conservative activists, has emerged from his self-imposed semi-exile with a bang. He’ll be teaching a policy seminar at Princeton next year. He’s accepted a senior fellowship at the Center for American Progress, where he will head up a “green opportunity initiative.” And on Friday, he will accept the NAACP President’s Award from Benjamin Todd Jealous, who mounts an eloquent defense of Jones in an op-ed.
The Washington Post‘s Juliet Eilperin nabbed the first post-resignation interview — you can read her story and excerpts from the interview. This is good:
When the food fight is over, there’s one spot of clean common ground in American politics and that is the need for us to be leading on energy, clean energy, and for us as a country to be more secure with all those jobs. … I’m confident we’re going to get there because I don’t think America is going to be willing to pass this one up. I think at the end of the day, common sense will prevail, and the common ground will be in the direction of clean energy.
Some additional links:
- Jones’ message to his supporters after his resignation.
- My thoughts on Jones’ resignation.
- My 2007 Grist interview with Jones.
- Jones talks to Grist about his position in the White House.
- Jones talks to Grist about his book The Green-Collar Economy (my review of the book).
- Jones talks to Grist about the Lieberman-Warner climate bill.
- Jones talks to Grist about the National Day of Action in 2008.
- Jones on the Colbert Report.
- Kate on Jones’ address to Netroots Nation.
- My 2005 (!) post on the formation of Jones’ first green group, Reclaim the Future.
- Jones writes for Grist.
