The U.S. energy sector is undergoing a profound transformation. The United States is producing more oil and natural gas, is generating more electricity from renewables such as wind and solar, and is consuming less petroleum while holding electricity consumption constant. These developments have had substantial economic and energy security benefits, and they are helping to reduce carbon emissions in the energy sector and thereby tackle the challenge posed by climate change. To build on this progress, to foster economic growth, and to protect the planet for future generations, the President has...

To emphasize the role of community colleges in achieving the President's goal of making America the most educated country in the world by 2020. To demonstrate that community colleges are critical partners in our efforts to prepare our graduates to lead the 21st century workforce. To highlight the Skills for America's Future initiative, a new Gates Foundation program called Completion by Design, and the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.

In June 2014, President Obama embarked on his first presidential visit to Indian Country, where he and Mrs. Obama witnessed the tale of two Americas. Standing Rock Reservation, like many others, faces myriad social, economic, and educational problems. Together, those problems are coalescing into a crisis for our most vulnerable population Native youth. The specific struggles that Native youth face often go unmentioned in our nation's discussions about America's children. In their visit to Standing Rock, President and Mrs. Obama met with a group of Native youth, who courageously shared their...

With more than 12 million private-sector jobs created over the last 60 months, it is clear that the President's middle class economic agenda is working. But instead of taking the steps we need to strengthen the standing of working families, the Republican budgets for fiscal year (FY) 2016 would return our economy to the same top-down economics that has failed us before: cutting taxes for millionaires and billionaires, while slashing investments in the middle class that we need to grow the economy, like education, job training, and manufacturing. The Republican proposals stand in stark...

Cities are beginning a new era of change. From 1920 to 2010 many U.S. cities "hollowed out" as suburbs grew faster than their urban cores. The trend started reversing in 2011 as Millennials and Baby Boomers looking for social connections and convenience settled in urban neighborhoods. Accompanying the resurgence of residential cities are complex and persistent urban challenges, including resilience against climate change and natural disasters. This report focuses on the technologies that shape some key infrastructures and economic activities, as opposed to those involved in delivering...

Civil rights legislation of the last century responded to the reality that some Americans were being denied access to fundamental building blocks of opportunity and security, such as employment, housing, access to financial products, and admission to universities, on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or family status. Today, in the United States, anti-discrimination laws help enforce the tenet that all people are to be treated equally. These safeguards are important to protect all Americans against discrimination. Big data...

The United States has been the leading producer of manufactured goods for more than 100 years, and the manufacturing sector is once again adding jobs and opening new factories at its fastest rate in two decades. The United States has long thrived as a result of its ability to manufacture goods and sell them to global markets. Manufacturing drives knowledge production and innovation in the United States by supporting two-thirds of private sector research and development and by employing the vast majority of U.S. scientists, engineers, and technicians to invent and produce new products. Yet, in...

Higher education is one of the most important investments individuals can make for themselves and for our country. Many students access student loans to help finance their education, and last year federal student loans helped 9 million Americans to make that investment in their futures. Typically, that investment pays off, with bachelor's degree recipients earning $1 million more in their lifetime and associate's degree recipients earning $360,000 more, compared to high school graduates. Society also benefits from these investments through such mechanisms as higher tax revenues, improvements...

Calls for criminal justice reform have been mounting in recent years, in large part due to the extraordinarily high levels of incarceration in the United States. Today, the incarcerated population is 4.5 times larger than in 1980, with approximately 2.2 million people in the United States behind bars, including individuals in Federal and State prisons as well as local jails. The push for reform comes from many angles, from the high financial cost of maintaining current levels of incarceration to the humanitarian consequences of detaining more individuals than any other country. Economic...