Working for Environment America this summer really opened my eyes to the perspective of people's opinions as a whole regarding the environment. Living and working in Washington, DC is really like living and working in a bubble. Everyone is politically aware and everyone has a specific stance on each issue. So standing on street corners asking "Do you have a minute for the environment" really didn't hit home for most individuals. However when you rephrased the question regarding the issue and tailored it to the person being asked it made a world's of difference. The questions which received the most stops were "Do you have a minute to help boost the economy?" or "Do you have a minute for green collared workers?"

When it comes to issues that regular American's are concerned about, I've learned very quickly that if it affects their wallet they care much more than if it didn't. The beauty about living in a capitalist society is that if we rely on the economy, it really will fix itself because money affects each individual personally. So when campaigning this summer, the green collared jobs appeal was the most effective. Regardless of your profession or your environmental stance, every American wants our country to have an outstanding economy. And the green collared job aspect not only addresses this concern, but actually offers a reasonable solution to our environmental, energy, and economic problems right now.

This logic is one of the reasons as an environmentalist that I supported McCain. I agree with Obama who scorns consumption when we don't have the means to do so. Based on what I learned in this class, consumption will be the end of our planet. In this regard, Obama has the right idea. However, I have faith that McCain will try harder than his opponent to create more green jobs. If the wealthy spend and create jobs for the lower class, then our country could possibly be saved. We could save our environment, our economy, and our personal well being if we were to reform our economy from the ground up and create a new green collared workforce. In this sense, I one hundred percent, without a doubt, agree with Van Jones.