Comment of Sierra Club under CP13-483, et. al..

ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT Together With THE ANNUAL REPORT of the COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS Transmitted to the Congress February 2015 economic re p ort of the president transmitted to the congress february 2015 together with the annual report of the council of economic advisers C O N T E N T S ECONOMIC REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS*. . . . 7 CHAPTER 1.  MIDDLE-CLASS ECONOMICS: THE ROLE OF PRODUCTIVITY, INEQUALITY, AND PARTICIPATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 CHAPTER 2. THE YEAR IN REVIEW AND THE YEARS AHEAD.. . . 41 CHAPTER 3.  ACHIEVEMENTS AND CHALLENGES IN THE U.S. LABOR MARKET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 CHAPTER 4.  THE ECONOMICS OF FAMILY-FRIENDLY WORKPLACE POLICIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157 CHAPTER 5.  BUSINESS TAX REFORM AND ECONOMIC GROWTH. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 CHAPTER 6.  THE ENERGY REVOLUTION: ECONOMIC BENEFITS AND THE FOUNDATION FOR A LOW-CARBON ENERGY FUTURE.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 CHAPTER 7. THE UNITED STATES IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY . . . 291 REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 APPENDIX A. REPORT TO THE PRESIDENT ON THE ACTIVITIES OF THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS DURING 2014. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 APPENDIX B. STATISTICAL TABLES RELATING TO INCOME, EMPLOYMENT, AND PRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379 ____________ *For a detailed table of contents of the Councils Report, see page 11. iii announced a bold new plan to offer 2 free years of community college to responsible students. Lets work together to make college as free and universal as high school, because a modern economy requires a highly educated workforce. While we strengthen the higher education system, my Administration is working to update our job training system and connect community colleges with local employers to train workers directly for existing, high- paying jobs. And Ive encouraged more companies to offer educational benefits and paid apprenticeships so more workers have a chance to earn a higherpaying job even if they dont have a higher education. Finally, as we better train our workers, we need to ensure that our economy keeps creating high-skilled, high-wage jobs for our workers to fill. That means building the most competitive economy anywhere, so that more businesses locate and hire in the UnitedStates. Lets start by making sure that our businesses have 21st century infrastructuremodern ports, stronger bridges, better roads, clean water, clean energy, faster trains, and the fastest internet. A bipartisan infrastructure plan would create thousands of middle-class jobs and support economic growth for de