Green Jobs: Looking back to 2009 and ahead to 2010
A year ago, TAP helped coordinate the Green-Collar Jobs Task Force of Nashville/Davidson County whose mission is to simultaneously fight poverty and pollution by providing people in distressed communities with career-track jobs that directly contribute to preserving or enhancing environmental quality.
In one short year, the Task Force:
· Created a comprehensive Green Jobs Corps proposal that was submitted to Metro government;
· Passed a City Council resolution with 35 co-sponsors in support of a Green Jobs Corps;
· Received the endorsement of the Mayors Green Ribbon Commission and the Nashville Poverty Commission;
· Held a well-attending press conference on green jobs;
· Met face to face with Governor Bredesen, elected officials, and state and local agencies;
· Received the endorsement of the Tennessee Legislative Black Caucus and the NAACP of Tennessee;
· Became a partner in the pathways-out-of-poverty grant that the Metro Action Commission submitted to the federal government for a Green Jobs Training and Placement Network;
· Organized the very successful Compass VI Conference on Green Jobs on Dec. 4-5, 2009. 150 people from all over the state representing 91 organizations attended.
Our goals for 2010 include continuing to push for green jobs initiatives in Nashville, building on the momentum and excitement of the Green Jobs Conference and setting up a statewide green jobs network that can help create a sustainable, green economy in Tennessee.
