The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current, December 16, 2018, Image 17

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The times., December 16, 2018, Image 17

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Newspaper Page TextBUSINESS Submit items for Sunday’s Newsmakers in Business to community@gainesvilletimes.com. ®h t kitties gainesvilletimes.com Sunday, December 16, 2018 ‘A promising step forward’ CHUCK BERMAN I Tribune News Service McDonald’s has announced steps to reduce the use of antibiotics in its beef supply. McDonald s to reduce antibiotics in beef supply by 2021 ROGELIO V. SOLIS I Associated Press A Happy Meal featuring non-fat chocolate milk and a cheeseburger with fries is shown. BY ALEXIA ELEJALDE-RUIZ Tribune News Service McDonald’s has announced steps to reduce the use of antibiotics in its global beef supply, a major commit ment from the nation’s largest beef purchaser to address concerns about a rise in drug-resistant infections. The Chicago-based fast-food giant said this week it is partnering with beef producers in its top 10 beef sourcing markets to measure current antibiotic use, and by the end of 2020 will establish reduction targets in those markets. The markets, which represent 85 percent of McDonald’s beef supply chain, will report progress starting in 2022, the company said. “We believe this is an ambitious, industry-leading commitment that will help to preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for human and animal health in the future,” spokeswoman Lauren Altmin said. Public health advocates hailed the announcement from McDonald’s, whose size and influence have the potential to spark change across the beef industry. “I think it’s a promising step for ward to preserve antibiotics,” said Matthew Wellington, Antibiotics Pro gram Director of U.S. PIRG and U.S. PIRG Education Fund, a public inter est research group. “We urge them to move quickly to accomplish the goals they lay out in this policy.” Use of antibiotics in livestock to not only treat sick animals but also prevent disease has raised concerns that overuse is causing more drug- resistant disease in humans. The Centers for Disease Control and Pre vention has estimated, conservatively, that 23,000 Americans die each year from antibiotic resistance, but other research puts the number much higher. A recent study from research ers at Washington University Medi cal School in St. Louis found 150,000 deaths from antibiotic-resistant infec tions in the U.S. in 2010. About 70 percent of antibiotics in the U.S. are used in animal agricul ture, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in a statement said its farmers and ranchers are “continu ously improving the way antibiot ics are used in animals, because they care about how their practices impact cattle health as well as antibi otic safety and efficacy.” “Our industry promotes the judi cious use of antibiotics to minimize the potential risk of developing antibi otic-resistant bacteria,” the Colorado- based organization said. While many fast-food compa nies have reduced antibiotic use in chicken, far fewer have done so for beef, Wellington said. U.S. PIRG and several other public interest groups co-authored a report in October that graded 25 burger chains on their anti biotic use practices, and only Shake Shack and BurgerFi got A’s for serv ing antibiotic-free beef. McDonald’s and most of its com petitors got F’s. Wendy’s, which got a D-, this year began sourcing about 15 percent of its beef from producers that have pledged to reduce antibiotic use in their cattle by 20 percent, the company says on its website. Chipotle, which was not included in the recent report because it’s not a burger chain, also doesn’t use beef treated routinely with antibiotics. The U.S. Food and Drug Administra tion prohibits antibiotic use to make food-producing animals grow fatter, faster, but it allows the routine use of antibiotics to prevent disease that can be common in unsanitary, over crowded conditions, Wellington said. McDonald’s new policy forbids the use of antibiotics that are medi cally important to humans in pro moting growth or preventing disease in animals. If there is a high risk of contraction of a particular disease, antibiotics must be selected accord ing to a tiered system that starts with those of least importance to human health. Animals can still be treated when they’re sick. ■ Please see BEEF, 4D MARCUS YAM I Tribune News Service Flames whip around utility power lines as winds drive towards town in Sycamore Canyon threatening structures in Montecito, Calif., on Dec. 16, 2017. California looks to electricity shutoffs as a faster, cheaper wildfire solution BY SAMMY ROTH Tribune News Service Electric utilities are under increasing pressure to shut down power lines during dangerous weather conditions to stop fires from sparking. And state officials want to make sure those shutoffs don’t do more harm than good. The California Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously Thursday to begin crafting new rules for turning off electricity when fire risk is high. The agen cy’s move follows a second straight year of devastating wildfires across Califor nia, some of which were started or may have been started by electric utility equipment. The recent fires could result in billions of dollars in liability for the state’s two largest utilities, South ern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Elec tric, giving them a strong incentive to try to prevent future blazes by de-ener- gizing power lines when the weather is dry and windy. In the last year, both com panies have cut power to customers for fire-preven tion reasons for the first time in recent memory. Proponents of turning off the power when the land scape is primed for fire say it’s one of the cheapest, easiest steps utilities can take to avert widespread destruction. “We need new tools,” Michael Picker, president of the Public Utilities Com mission, said before Thurs day’s vote. “In this era, with the ferocity and unprece dented damages we’re see ing from wildfires, we can’t keep doing the same thing.” But power shutoffs can also cause problems. Some people depend on elec tricity to power medical devices, including breath ing machines and dialy sis equipment. A lack of electricity can also create additional hazards when blazes do spark, making it harder for residents with out landlines to find out about evacuation orders and potentially limiting the ability for firefighters to pump water. “If a shutoff is done, it should make people safer, not put them at more risk,” said Mindy Spatt, a spokeswoman for the Util ity Reform Network, a ratepayer advocacy group based in San Francisco. Making shutoffs safer is the goal of the rulemak ing process opened by the commission Thursday. The regulatory agency plans to examine a long list of ques tions, including how utili ties should notify the public of possible shutoffs, how to limit the effects on people with life-support devices and how utility officials should coordinate with first responders once the elec tricity is out. The commission could ultimately create a new set of rules governing when and how utilities turn off the lights. Elizaveta Malashenko, who leads the commission’s Safety and Enforcement Division, said the rules the agency devel ops will largely be deter mined by who takes part in the conversation, and what kinds of questions and con cerns they raise. “It’s important for any body who really wants to make sure that their point is considered to engage — to find a way to engage in this process either directly or through some kind of orga nization,” Malashenko told The Times before Thurs day’s vote. For-profit prison companies back criminal justice reform HILDA M PEREZ I Tribune News Service South Bay Correctional Facility in Florida is shown. BY STEVE C0NT0RN0 Tribune News Service A bipartisan push in Congress backed by President Donald Trump to slow America’s rising prison pop ulation has a puzzling supporter: A Boca Raton-based for-profit prison company. GEO Group, one of the coun try’s largest detention companies, is publicly urging the Senate not to adjourn without passing the FIRST STEP Act, a bill that seeks to shorten some federal drug sen tences and reduce the likelihood inmates will end up back behind bars. GEO’s biggest competitor, CoreCivic, is backing the bill as well. On the surface, it’s a curious position for leaders of a $4.8 bil lion industry enriched by tough-on- crime policies that swept millions of Americans into lengthy sentences over the past three decades. But others see two companies well-positioned to profit if Congress goes through with this reform. Federal business filings show GEO Group and CoreCivic have aggressively expanded in recent years into another sector of the criminal justice system: post-prison rehabilitation. It’s one of the fastest- growing pieces in the companies’ respective portfolios. Last year, GEO Group bought one of the country’s largest provid ers of halfway houses, Community Education Centers, for $360 million. CoreCivic owns dozens of re-entry centers and recently told inves tors more acquisitions are on the horizon. Should Congress approve the FIRST STEP Act, demand will rise for the very services these two companies now provide en masse. The bill authorizes a $375 million expansion of post-prison services for inmates transitioning back into society. GEO Group and CoreCivic insisted in statements that their support for reform is in line with a greater corporate mission and is not fueled by dollars. “Helping people get their lives back on track is at the core of our purpose to better the public good,” CoreCivic spokes woman Amanda Gilchrist said. Geo Group and CoreCivic both operate detention facilities in Flor ida. Geo Group’s corporate head quarters is in Boca Raton. Reform advocates also fighting to get the bill through Congress are skeptical of their new allies. These investments foretell a future where for-profit companies with contro versial track records not only house a large percentage of people who are behind bars but many who leave prison as well. “They see it as a way to possi bly make money,” said Jesselyn McCurdy in the Washington office of the America Civil Liberties Union, a reluctant backer of the legislation. “There’s not enough capacity at the moment for people to be released to halfway houses as a result of this. (These companies are) already in the halfway-house business.” GEO Group and CoreCivic are faring quite well under the current administration. Indeed, few indus tries have enjoyed more success under Trump than private prisons. Trump, elected on brash but unspecific promises to restore “law and order,” quickly reversed Presi dent Barack Obama’s decision to phase out federal use of for-profit institutions. The new White House’s immigra tion policies — a national sweep of undocumented immigrants, including children and fami lies — have proved lucrative to these prisons, too. A share of GEO Group stock sold for just under $16 before Trump’s election. Today, it’s at $23.41. CoreCivic’s stock has jumped 50 percent since November 2016. For their part, GEO Group and CoreCivic have closely aligned themselves with Trump. Each donated $250,000 to Trump’s inau gural fund. Last year GEO Group moved its annual leadership con ference from a venue near its Boca Raton headquarters to the Trump Doral resort, The Washington Post reported last year. GEO has hired lobbyists close to the president, including influential Florida powerbroker Brian Ballard. It heavily supported Trump ally Gov. Rick Scott in his race for the U.S. Senate. The company, which operates five facilities in Florida, and its CEO, George Zoley, donated $414,000 to Scott’s campaign and various related committees, more than it gave any other candidate. Trump and for-profit prisons are again in lockstep on the FIRST STEP Act. The president on Twitter has implored the Senate to take it up before Christmas. It’s not clear that will happen.