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The way America uses fossil fuels interferes with every other progressive goal. Our environment is being not only threatened by global climate change, but by extraction efforts that invade pristine wildernesses and level whole mountains in the greedy quest for oil and coal. Huge economic resources are being poured into the ground when they could be used to create jobs for Americans in sustainable energy and conservation. Internationally, our oil use enriches oppressive dictatorships and theocracies, undermines our democratization efforts, props up and funds terrorist groups, and provides a powerful diplomatic weapon for rivals to use against us and our allies.
The Roosevelt Institution is committed to developing practical ways to reduce our fossil fuel use through reduced energy consumption and moves to other sources of energy.
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Historically, work was the pillar upon which family life rested. In recent years, however, with more single parent or two breadwinner households, longer hours, and declining minimum wages, work has become a tougher impediment to family life. Family-friendly fringe benefits -- health insurance, company retirement plans -- have been cut back and job security has eroded. And even as volatility has increased there are attempts to reduce social insurance, as the household is being asked to bear a larger share of the risks in our economy.
The point of the American economy is to support the American family, but instead we find our families being sacrificed to our economy -- a squeeze in which jobs demand more of a family's resources and provide fewer of a family's needs. The Roosevelt Institution is committed to advancing policies that will make the economy once again support working families.
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Higher education shapes so many things about our society -- it is a credential that gives access to more and better job opportunities, it creates social networks and is a center of cultural production and definition, and it provides resources and time for personal growth and reflection. Yet our system of allocating access to higher education does not reflect our values as a society.
Unequal access to higher education is un-American. It restricts the life choices, productivity, and creative output of our children simply because of the neighborhood, family, or economic circumstance they were born into. And by excluding some qualified people from our higher education system, it impoverishes the experience for all students. The Roosevelt Institution is committed to broadening access to higher education, ensuring that we provide a place for every student who works hard and wants to attend.
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