In part two of a look at events organized by the Hip Hop Caucus (click here for coverage of the HHC’s response to Haiti), IAM joined President and CEO, Reverend Lennox Yearwood; DJ Biz Markie; actress Gloria Reuben; Congressman Andre Carson (D-IN); and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Lisa Jackson among others in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. It was the last stop on the Clean Energy Now! Bus Tour that was taken on a carbon neutral bus, included a team of college students, and was cosponsored by Alliance for Climate Protection’s Repower America campaign. HHC has adopted the green movement as one of their key platforms.

The tour started February 19^th in New Orleans with the addition of singer D. Woods. Yearwood noted that the devastation that the area endured from 2005’s Hurricane Katrina was not only because of a natural disaster, but also because of policy. Likewise, he said, environmental erosion is an issue of policy and we would be missing out on key opportunities to rebuild our neighborhoods and economy if we do not lobby for clean energy and the jobs that come with it.

“When we started out in Tulane and Dillard [Universities in New Orleans], the students organized there for a rally [were] talking about this is their lunch counter moment for the 21^st century,” said Yearwood. “When we went further on the road to Little Rock into the heart, which used to be called ‘Banging in the Rock’ because of the gang violence, we went right into the hood where they were coming together saying that we need these new clean energy jobs so that we can fight poverty and pollution at the same time. Senior citizens... they were just so grateful because these students came by to give some efficiency kits to weatherize their homes.”

The weatherization kits help to seal gaps in the home (around doors and windows) and greatly reduces the amount of energy needed for temperature control. Studies show this and other comprehensive clean energy practices and policies can create up to 1.9 million jobs nationwide and save individual households $1,175 per year. It’s “not just an issue of saving money but making people understand how that connects to the environment,” said Jackson.

The tour ended in DC in recognition of the power of political participation. “Let me tell you what happens when you use your voice,” said Maggie Fox, President and CEO of Alliance for Climate Protection. “What happens are things like the American Recovery Act, the largest investment in clean energy in our nation’s history. 39% increase in wind power in our country just because of one new law.”

“We spent over 700 billion in bailing out Wall Street,” reminded Congressman Carson. “We spent over a trillion dollars for the war in Iraq. The Center for American Progress said if we were willing as a government to invest just two hundred billion in a green economy, we could produce over two million jobs in just two years... With just the right investments, greening the block the right way, not the sticky icky oo wee, but greening the block the right way, we can produce jobs and put America back to work.”

“It’s not about Democrat or Republicans,” said Yearwood. “It’s about humanity. It’s black, it’s white, it’s brown, it’s yellow, it’s red, it’s man, it’s female, it’s atheist, it’s theist, it’s straight and it’s gay. It’s about humanity.”

Words By Sia Tiambi Barnes