Frontier Group August Update

Frontier Group's August Update includes news on the states that are leading the nation in solar energy, new evidence of growing child poverty in America's suburbs, and the FDA guidelines that are supposed to slash antibiotics use on factory farms, but won't.

Top States, Strong Policies Drive Solar Boom

America installed more solar energy capacity in 2013 than was installed in the nation’s entire history up to 2011, according to Lighting the Way, our second annual roundup of state-level progress in solar energy. The report identified 10 states that are leading the solar energy revolution, in large part due to their adoption of strong pro-solar policies. See coverage of the report’s release in top-ranked Arizona here.

Child Poverty Grows in the Suburbs

Child poverty is on the rise in places where you might not expect it. In Childhood Hunger in America’s Suburbs, co-authored by Frontier Group’s Jeff Inglis and published by Fair Share Education Fund, shows that eligibility for free and reduced-price lunches rose faster in suburban areas than in urban, rural or town communities between 2006-07 and 2010-11. Check out a radio clip about the report here.

FDA’s Antibiotics Rules: Not What the Doctor Ordered

The overuse of antibiotics on factory farms has contributed to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, potentially leading to what the World Health Organization has called a “post-antibiotic era … in which common infections and minor injuries can kill.” Yet, according to Weak Medicine, our white paper with U.S. PIRG Education Fund, the Food and Drug Administration’s belated response to the crisis – a series of voluntary standards – is unlikely to break the pattern of overuse of antibiotics on farms. Stronger standards, such as those in place in parts of Europe, would be more effective.

In Other News

Tony Dutzik writes at Streetsblog about new tools states can use to incorporate changing societal trends into transportation planning … Elizabeth Ridlington writes at the Frontier Group blog about the mounting evidence of climate damage from natural gas … We say goodbye this month to policy analysts Benjamin Davis and Jordan Schneider, whose work has helped advance the cause of government transparency, unearth emerging trends in transportation, and publicize the tremendous potential of solar energy.

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