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Last month, U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez met a young Camden man named Donny during a visit to New Jersey to tour the facilities of YouthBuild Camden. Before YouthBuild, Donny felt he was on the wrong path and headed toward a life on the streets.

A new issue brief from the Center for American Progress highlights how the abundance of wind energy offshore of the Atlantic coast offers East Coast states an immense opportunity to help achieve their 2030 Clean Power Plan goals, expand their energy supplies, and spur sustainable economic development.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for August 2015. Privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,170,000. This is 3.5 percent (±1.4%) above the revised July rate of 1,130,000, and is 12.5 percent (±1.9%) above the August 2014 estimate of 1,040,000.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today recognized projects in three communities as winners of the 2015 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. Winners include a new public park on a formerly contaminated site along the Passaic River in Newark, N.J. and new mixed-use developments that are spurring investment and revitalization in Jackson, Tenn. and Hamilton, OH.

Consumers Energy is supporting a Michigan-first approach that keeps costs competitive for customers, announcing an agreement today to purchase renewable energy from a new 100-megawatt wind farm to be built in Michigan’s Thumb.

The green building sector is outpacing overall construction growth in the U.S. and will account for more than 2.3 million American jobs this year, according to a new U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) study from Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE:BAH).

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that in 2014, there was no statistically significant change from 2013 in either real median household income or the official poverty rate. At the same time, the percentage of people without health insurance coverage declined. Unless otherwise noted, the following results for the nation were compiled from information collected in the 2015 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today decided that HUD will not force thousands of New York and New Jersey homeowners to repay federal disaster recovery funds following a decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to increase flood insurance claim payments to families it initially underpaid following Hurricane Sandy.

President Obama and Vice President Biden are committed to promoting smart, simple, low-cost technologies to help America transition to cleaner and more distributed energy sources, help households save on their energy bills, and to address climate change. That is why today, the Administration is announcing more than $120 million to scale up clean energy in 24 states across the country.

Under a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) has agreed to make major upgrades, improve inspections and cleaning of existing facilities within the Puerto Nuevo system and continue improvements to its systems island-wide. The Puerto Nuevo sewer system serves the municipalities of San Juan, Trujillo Alto, and portions of Bayamón, Guaynabo and Carolina.

House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) released the following statement today marking the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

The Energy Department released its second Quadrennial Technology Review (QTR), which examines the current status of clean energy technologies and identifies hundreds of clean energy research opportunities that could support the effort to modernize the power sector as a whole, while also helping Americans to power their homes, businesses, cars and trucks more efficiently.

Thousands of very low-income Veteran families around the nation, who are permanently housed or transitioning to permanent housing, will continue to have access to crucial services with the renewal of approximately $300 million in grants under the Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program.

Representatives of the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and China's State Grid Energy Research Institute today signed a first-ever memorandum of understanding between the two organizations.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that 21 states will receive grants through the Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership (BIP) to add infrastructure needed to supply more renewable fuel to America's drivers. Since announcing the program in May 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) received applications requesting over $130 million, outpacing the $100 million that is available.

Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Lisa Mensah is in Great Falls, Montana this week and will meet with the congressional delegation to announce new Rural Development investments of more than $11.4 million in businesses and infrastructure and $19.8 in housing assistance in Montana, all in just the last 30 days

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker announced the five winners of the Department’s 2015 Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) award. The Auto Care Association, Evergreen Building Products Association, the National Center for Healthcare Leadership, NPES: The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies, and the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association received more than $1.4

Thirty clean energy companies will present their business cases to a panel of investors and industry experts Nov. 3 and 4 in Denver, Colorado, as the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) hosts its annual Industry Growth Forum

The Justice Department announced today that Walter Investment Management Corp. (WIMC) has agreed to pay $29.63 million to resolve allegations that WIMC, through its subsidiaries, Reverse Mortgage Solution Inc. (RMS), REO Management Solutions LLC and RMS Asset Management Solutions LLC, violated the False Claims Act in connection with their participation in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD’s) Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECM) program, which insures “reverse” mortgage loans.