Pew urges the Obama administration to devise a “comprehensive, economy-wide energy plan" to foster green growth. Ultimately, though, the market will decide who sinks and who swims: “there will be winners and losers going forward. Policy makers who act quickly and effectively could see their states flourish, while others may lose opportunities for new jobs, businesses and investments.”

There's no reason to think that in a capitalist structure (even a flagging one), green employers wouldn't be driven by the status-quo market logic. An increasingly competitive climate not only shapes regional growth patterns but also raises the question of what kind of green economy to build: who gets hired, how will their workplaces be governed, who will protect their rights, and how many jobs will go to groups double-impacted by environmental and economic crises? According to a White House report, Black and Latino workers tend to be underrepresented in many key green occupations.

Small-scale experiments, like Sustainable South Bronx's green roofs or Greencorps Chicago's workforce program, offer models for solid “green collar” opportunities. But these projects still have a ways to go to prove themselves on long-term scalability and sustainability.

As green industries rise--with scrappy Bronx contenders up against heavyweights of the T-Boone Pickens variety--sheer survival is as important as the moral imperative of green economic equity. It's a new playing field with old rules, and the task before communities on the sidelines is to learn how to play the game in order to change it.

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