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West Wing Week: "Don't Bump My Atoms"

Posted by Paul Wiley on February 25, 2011 at 1:00 AM EDT

Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This week, President Obama held events in Oregon and Ohio focused on winning the future through investments in innovation and small business, and convened his Council on Jobs and Competitiveness at the White House.

Find out more about the events featured in this West Wing Week:

Friday, February 18
- Out-Educating the Competition
Tuesday, February 22
- President Obama Drops By Online Forum on Small Business
- Winning the Future Forum on Small Business: Closing Session
Wednesday, February 23
- President Obama Speaks on the Turmoil in Libya: "This Violence Must Stop"
Thursday, February 24
- The President & His Council on Jobs and Competitiveness: "My Main Purpose Here Today at This First Meeting I Think is To Listen"
Arun Chaudhary is the official White House Videographer.

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The Energy of Entrepreneurs

Posted by Secretary Steven Chu on February 24, 2011 at 2:59 PM EDT

On Tuesday, I joined President Obama in Cleveland to meet with small business leaders and get their ideas on how we can support their work in clean energy. America’s small businesses are engines of innovation and job creation. In fact, they create two out of every three new jobs in this country. Their ingenuity is essential to win the clean energy race and grow our economy, so I wanted to hear their unfiltered thoughts on our country’s approach to clean energy, what we’ve done well and where we can do better.

During a two-hour discussion, I heard excitement for the opportunities offered by the President’s agenda. Folks around the room supported the President’s bold goal of generating 80 percent of America’s electricity from clean sources by 2035. As I told the group, a Clean Energy Standard would create a guaranteed market for clean energy, one in which the best technologies and the most innovative approaches will break through and find investment capital that might have otherwise sat on the sidelines.

By growing the domestic market for clean energy, we’ll create jobs and nurture our clean energy industries, including manufacturing, so we can compete in the rapidly growing global clean energy economy.

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Exclusive Video: Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients In Their Own Words

Posted by Kori Schulman on February 17, 2011 at 6:21 PM EDT

"This year’s Medal of Freedom recipients reveal the best of who we are and who we aspire to be," President Obama said at the ceremony to award the Nation’s highest civilian honor. He described the occasion as "one of the things that I most look forward to every year. It’s a chance to meet with -- and, more importantly, honor -- some of the most extraordinary people in America -- and around the world."

Honorees sat down with our cameras to reflect on this momentous day and share their stories of inspiration, their best advice for young people and their ideas on how all Americans can give back. Now, you're invited to meet some of the extraordinary men and women that have inspired us, enriched our culture, and made our country and our world a better place.

Watch exclusive interviews with the 2010 Medal of Freedom recipients and the award ceremony.

Includes Video

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Weekly Wrap Up: Rebuilding America's Infrastructure for the 21st Century

Posted by Kori Schulman on February 11, 2011 at 8:09 PM EDT

A quick look at the week of February 7, 2011:

President Barack Obama greets the employees during a stop at Donkers candy store and restaurant in Marquette, Mich., February 10, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton)

Quote: "America has always used the building of our infrastructure networks to take our economy forward and to build out American industry. The Wireless Initiative is going to bring that to the 21st Century. It's going to take it to the next level, because that's the American way."--Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, explaining the National Wireless Initiative on the White Board.

Advise the Advisor: Your direct line to senior staff at the White House kicks off with a new video with Senior Advisor David Plouffe.

Open for Suggestions: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wants to hear from you. Check out the new ConsumerFinance.gov, share your suggestions for the bureau and watch video responses.

Out-Building: This week, the President puts forward plans to build up the nation's infrastructure, investing in things like high speed rail, and expanding broadband access so all of America's families will be equipped to win the future:

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West Wing Week: "The New Electrification"

Posted by Paul Wiley on February 11, 2011 at 1:00 AM EDT

Welcome to the West Wing Week, your guide to everything that's happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. This week, President Obama focused on the second part of his State of the Union goals of out-innovating, out-building, and out-competing the rest of the world, putting forward plans to build up the nation's infrastructure, investing in things like high speed rail, and expanding broadband access so all of America's families will be equipped to win the future. The Prime Minister of Canada also dropped by.

Find out more about the topics covered in this West Wing Week:

Friday, February 4th, 2011
- Press Conference with President Obama and Prime Minister Harper
Monday, February 7th, 2011
- President Obama to Business: "Now is the Time to Invest in America"
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011
- Bringing High-Speed Rail to America
Thursday, February 10, 2011
- The President on the National Wireless Initiative: "We’re Going to Have to Up Our Game, Marquette"
Arun Chaudhary is the official White House Videographer.

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Smart from the Start: Building a Clean Energy Future

Posted by Secretary Ken Salazar on February 10, 2011 at 6:09 PM EDT

Secretary Salazar and Secretary Chu announce Wind Energy Areas for the Atlantic Coast. Photo by Tami Heilemann-DOI.

This week, the Administration continued its work to build a clean energy future on our nation’s lands and oceans.

On Monday, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and I went to Norfolk, Virginia to unveil the first-ever coordinated strategicplan to accelerate the development of offshore wind energy. In support of our plan, Secretary Chu announced $50.5 million in funding opportunities to develop breakthrough offshore wind energy technology and to reduce specific market barriers to its deployment.

I also announced the first of several Wind Energy Areas for the Atlantic Coast. For four states -Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland – the Department of the Interior has identified areas with the highest wind potential and fewest conflicts with competing uses. If our environmental reviews on these Wind Energy Areas find no significant impacts from potential leasing, we could be offering wind leases in these areas by the end of 2011 or early 2012.

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