So who will do the hard and noble work of actually building the green economy? The answer: millions of ordinary people, many of whom do not have good jobs right now. According to the National Renewable Energy Lab, the major barriers to a more rapid adoption of renewable energy and energy effi ciency are not fi nancial, legal, technical, or ideological. One big problem is simply that green employers can't find enough trained, green-collar workers to do all the jobs.

That is good news for people who are being thrown out of work in the present recession. That is good news for people in urban and rural communities who are suffering from chronic lack of work. That is good news for our veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. That is good news for people returning home from prison, looking for a second chance. And those opportunities for work and wealth creation can be available to all of them—starting right now. Not twenty years from now. Today.

When commentators evoke the "future green economy" or the "green jobs of the future," our minds sometimes start conjuring up images at the far edge of our imaginations. Perhaps we envision a top-secret California laboratory, where strange and mysterious geniuses are designing space-age technologies to save the world.

We see cool and beautiful Ph.D.s wearing fancy goggles and green lab coats, turning the dials on strange and wonderful machines. Perhaps someone in the corner is reworking the equations for a new hydrogen fuel cell—or maybe even nuclear fusion. Or maybe we see a courageous space cowboy in orbit, bravely constructing the solar panels that somehow beam down energy to our cities. The possibilities are endless. Someone says "green jobs," and our minds go to Buck Rogers.

Let's be clear, the main piece of technology in the green economy is a caulk gun. Hundreds of thousands of green-collar jobs will be weatherizing and energy-retrofi tting every building in the United States. Buildings with leaky windows, ill-fi tting doors, poor insulation, and old appliances can gobble up 30 percent more energy.

That means owners are paying 30 percent more on their heating bills. And it often means that 30 percent more coal-fi red carbon is going into the atmosphere. Drafty buildings create broke, chilly people—and an overheated planet.

Another bit of high-tech green technology is the clipboard. That tool is used by energy auditors as they point out energy-saving opportunities to homeowners and renters. This job does not require much training and can be an early entry point into the booming world of energy consultation and effi ciency. And one consultation can save an owner hundreds—or even thousands—of dollars annually.

Other green-collar workers can then follow up with other tasks for building owners: wrapping hot-water heaters with blankets, blowing insulation, plugging holes, repairing cracks, hauling out old appliances, replacing old windows with the double-glazed kind.

Other pieces of green tech are ladders, wrenches, hammers, tool belts, and nonslip work boots. Those are the space-age gadgets used by solar-panel installers every day.The point is this. When you think about the emerging green economy, don't think of George Jetson with a jet pack. Think of Joe Sixpack with a hard hat and lunch bucket, sleeves rolled up, going off to fix America. Think of Rosie the Riveter, manufacturing parts for hybrid buses or wind turbines. Those images will represent the true face of a green-collar America.

This is an excerpt from Van Jones's new book: The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems. Click here for more information.

About Van Jones

Van Jones is an author, activist, leader, and visionary. He is also founding president of Green For All and a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress.