As the United States' population hits 300 million this month, the nation's largest population group Population Connection has an action plan to tackle population growth -- a factor that causes and/or exacerbates other problems as diverse as traffic congestion, overcrowded classrooms, childhood asthma and global warming.

"Population growth is the one of the biggest problems we face and, sadly, the issue to which we give the smallest amount of our attention," said John Seager, president and CEO of Population Connection.

"We've added 100 million in just 39 years and we are growing by nearly 3 million a year. The good news is: we can do something positive about it; we know how to solve this problem while improving the quality of peoples lives," he said.

Population Connection's Action Plan to stabilize U.S. population is:

-- Ensure Contraceptive Availability -- A third of births in the U.S. are unintended; the federal government should fully fund the Title X domestic family planning program for low-income women and the law should require all pharmacists to fill all contraceptive prescriptions.

-- Prevent Teen Pregnancy -- The U.S. has the highest teen pregnancy rates in the industrialized world; we can't let extreme ideology trump science when it comes to young people's lives: they deserve comprehensive sex education.

-- Defend Reproductive Rights -- Citizens need to express strong support for the rights to choose and to access contraception to our state and federal lawmakers; an extreme anti-family planning minority should not be allowed to control private lives.

-- Meet Migration Challenges -- Instead of focusing on "broken borders" rhetoric we need to address the root causes of migration in our foreign policy and work with our neighbors to help improve educational and economic opportunities for people.

"Most people would agree that a population of 300 million is enormous -- but its impact, in a very real sense, is even bigger. It negatively affects the water we drink, the air we breathe, the food we eat and the overall quality of our lives. Our action plan lays out a practical path to stabilize population and create positive change that everyone can enjoy," Seager said.
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Population Connection (formerly Zero Population Growth) is the largest grassroots group in the country mobilizing Americans to meet the global population challenge. For nearly 40 years, the organization has been educating young people and advocating for progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by earth's resources.

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