However, Jones now sees new reasons for hope. It seems that clean energy is making a comeback tour, especially since the Obama administration recently announced a new initiative to make solar energy accessible to all Americans, particularly those of low income. It’s another step in the administration’s mission to address climate change and promote clean energy while creating new jobs.

Green for All was one of the players that brought its influence to the White House, voicing concerns over the exclusion of people of color in the solar boom.

“For us, our major concern over the past couple of years has been this massive solar boom, which is a good thing, but it’s been a boom for whom?” Jones explains. “African Americans, Latinos and other communities of color need the solar industry to work with us so that we can have our energy bills cut and have our property value improve.”

The group approached solar executives, congressional leadership and the White House. At that point, some ideas were already in development, but there were also “many, many more things that needed to be done.”

Jones notes that the group had a meeting at the White House with officials, leaders from the Congressional Black Caucus and other leaders of color from Congress, and solar executives that preceded the White House’s announcement by a few weeks.

“It’s an important victory because African Americans and other communities of color have been incredibly supportive of the solar industry and the solar industry has not yet been very supportive of [us],” the activist says.

“This particular announcement by the White House gives us a whole new tool box for communities and solar companies to work together to increase the number of people of color working in the solar industry and to increase the number of homeowners of color who can now have solar panels on their roof tops,” he says.