Providing information and ideas to build a healthier, more sustainable America.
- July 2021 -
In June, we examined the potential of renewable energy to power our country, and why utilities and fossil fuel interests are fighting to stop the transition to renewables. We also looked at pollution affecting our water and our air, and provided data and tools to help you understand the pollution near you.
Utilities and fossil fuel interests are fighting rooftop solar
Across the country, utilities, fossil fuel companies and affiliated groups are working to slow the growth of rooftop solar power - one of the world’s best tools in the fight against climate change. In Blocking Rooftop Solar, our report written with Environment America Research & Policy Center and U.S. PIRG Education Fund, we explore tactics being used to attack solar power from Florida to California. The report was featured in Popular Science, Electrek, and Solar Power World.
Renewable energy can power the entire country
The United States has the wind and solar power potential to provide almost 90 times its 2020 electricity usage, and every state has the potential to meet its entire 2020 electricity demand at least once over with wind and solar energy. That’s the main finding from the 2021 edition of We Have the Power, written with Environment America Research & Policy Center. The report was featured in Politico Morning Energy and Electrek.
Beach water should be clean…but some days it isn’t
More than half of the 3,166 coastal, Great Lakes and Puerto Rican beaches reviewed were potentially unsafe for swimming on at least one day in 2020. The 2021 edition of our Safe for Swimming report, written with Environment America Research & Policy Center, dives into why beach waters are too often unsafe, and why the major investments in water infrastructure now being debated in Washington are both crucial and timely. 
On the blog
James Horrox writes about the health benefits of bringing nature into our cities and about examples from around the world of urban development that incorporates nature successfully … Jamie Friedman explains how to find out which toxic pollutants industrial facilities near you are releasing into the air you breathe.
Coming soon
In the coming weeks, we will release an update to our interactive map of threats to water quality in the Delaware River Basin and an update to Trash in America, which exposes the scale of the nation’s waste crisis and lays out a policy pathway toward a more sustainable future. Finally, we released The Environmental Case for Rooftop Solar Energy today, which digs into how putting solar on our buildings can protect land, conserve water and help us achieve climate goals more quickly.
Frontier Group staff
Susan Rakov, Director

Tony Dutzik and Elizabeth Ridlington, Associate Directors and Senior Policy Analysts

Gideon Weissman, R.J. Cross, James Horrox and Adrian Pforzheimer, Policy Analysts

Jamie Friedman and Bryn Huxley-Reicher, Policy Associates
Frontier Group is part of The Public Interest Network, which operates and supports organizations committed to a shared vision of a better world and a strategic approach to social change.