Most green-collar jobs are middle-skill jobs. That means they require more education that a high-school diploma, but less than a four-year degree.

We need to think bigger, dream bigger, and get bigger.

Too often we think about the green economy as an elite market niche, one in which affluent people spend more money to consume greener and cleaner products.

The time has come for a public-private community partnership to fix this country and put it back to work.

We're going to bake this planet, and be a curse to all species, including our own, if we don't find an alternative to carbon-based fuel. That's the #1 problem.

It's a tremendous challenge now: to make sure the green economy is big enough that there is enough labor demand that people who've been thrown out of work can be re-employed AND people who are new to the workforce can be employed. And that is going to be very difficult.

To green our country, regular people will have to put on hard hats and work boots, roll up their sleeves - and get to work.