Community leaders and presidential candidates are talking
about the promise of green-collar jobs to serve the planet
and the people. We are on the cusp of a major change.
We are ready to rebuild American competitiveness and
leadership by investing in environmental protection and by
investing in our people.

Our green future will be invented at the local level. It
will be crafted by local leaders. This report offers those
leaders some of the best thinking and models currently
available for building green-collar jobs and the training
pipelines necessary for city residents to fill those jobs and
claim the promise of living wage careers.

This report is not a one-size-fits-all formula. Rather, it is a
strategic framework within which local policymakers and
advocates can develop a green-collar jobs initiative that
responds to the realities of their local economies and
communities while offering hope and opportunity to those
who most need it.

What this report cannot provide is political will. That
must be provided by all of us, working together to
construct a green economy strong enough to lift people
out of poverty. We need bold and committed action,
coupled with smart thinking, to simultaneously save the
planet and reclaim the dream of an America we’ve always
imagined.

Let’s do it now. There’s no time to waste.