For most Americans, a middle class life looks like this: Home ownership; a yearly vacation; college for your kids; a secure, debt free retirement.
That’s what’s been spun as the “American Dream.” And, according to the political rhetoric, trying to achieve it is a nightmare.
The Pew Research Center recently reported the share of middle class households have dropped in 9 out of 10 metropolitan areas. Some of that erosion is due to income growth. But more of the drop can be attributed to income declines.
Presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are offering both reasons and remedies for the middle class slippage. But can a manufacturing jobs plan, or an investment or middle class tax cut close the fissures that seem to be splintering American society?
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America’s Middle Class Battlelines
How Energy and Conservation Became Partisan Issues
Although majorities of Americans cherish the environment and value readily available and reasonably priced energy, the elected officials, campaign activists and financial contributors who control our two major political parties portray it as a zero sum game.
Cheap Gas Is Killing Coal and Saving the Planet
[N]atural gas is beating coal in the race to the bottom of energy prices. Thanks to the U.S. shale boom and significant increases in LNG exports from countries like Qatar and Australia, natural gas is plentiful and, more importantly, cheap….enabl[ing] both China and India to move away from much dirtier coal.
Germany and the U.S. have Different Ideas About Energy
Germany is in the midst of a large-scale, government-driven energy transition toward renewables….The U.S. has also favored renewable energy with tax incentives and other subsidies, but the effort has been modest compared with Germany’s….So which country is doing a better job of shifting its energy mix?
America’s Never-Ending Oil Consumption
The United States accounts for less than 5 percent of the world’s population, but it consumes about 20 percent of the global energy supply. The average American citizen uses nearly two times as much fossil fuel as a person living in Great Britain….But politicians seem wary of telling Americans they need to cut back.
Obama Takes a Crucial Step on Climate Change
President Obama’s Clean Power Plan has rightly been hailed as the most important action any president has taken to address the climate crisis.