The Return of Van Jones

It's been nearly six months since Van Jones was in the public eye, but he's back, and he's talking about it. Jones will begin teaching at Princeton University and will assume a spot at the Center for American Progress, where he will lead a "green opportunity initiative" to push for "green enterprise zones" that will encourage green tech development in poor rural and urban areas, as The Washington Post reported today.


Jones not only talked to the Post about his new gigs, he's sitting down for his first televised interview since resigning from the administration with Tavis Smiley tomorrow night on PBS "to discuss his resignation from the [White House] Council [on Environmental Equality] as well as his latest projects with the Center for American Progress and Princeton University," as described in the press release.

Jones resigned from his White House post in September after intense pressure mounted on him to step down, led by different segments of the right, but most prominently Glenn Beck, who made Jones into a cause, pointing to Jones's statement that he was a communist in his earlier days and his signature to a "truther" petition, calling for an investigation into U.S. government involvement in 9/11.

Jones was a charismatic star in the green jobs movement before his short-lived job in the Obama administration; it will be interesting to see just how publicly noticeable he makes himself in the new role at CAP. The recorded Tavis Smiley interview should prove to be a starting point.