"It is true that we don't have any throwaway species or resources. We don't have any throwaway children, throwaway neighborhoods, or throwaway nations either. Therefore, the green economy must do more than reclaim thrown-away stuff. It must also reclaim thrown away lives and thrown-away places. And it must reclaim the thrown-away values that insist we are all members of one human family, with sacred obligations to each other.
In the United States, especially, we have strayed far from these truths. The following facts are worth repeating. We represent only 4 percent of the world's population, but we are responsible for 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gases. And we now jail more than 25 percent of the world's prisoners. In other words, one out of every four carbon molecules superheating the atmosphere has our name on it, and one out of every four people locked up anywhere in the world is locked up in a U.S. jail or prison. Some say that number is closer to 50 percent. This is a disturbing testament to a profound moral failing: we are functioning as if we have a disposable planet--and disposable people.
We know deep inside us that all beings have value. All people are precious. All of creation has sacred, inherent worth. We must take a stand in defense of the children of all species--including our own."
~Van Jones, The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution can Fix our Two Biggest Problems
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