Good News

Our top 5 good news stories of 2020

Because we could all use a little more cheer.

We can all agree that 2020 was a challenging year.


Good news feels hard to come by lately. And when you work in environmental news, it can seem even more rare.

Yet, the year was not without progress (yes, seriously!). Check out five good news stories from our newsroom that you may have missed below.

1. A Northeast US climate initiative has had a major side benefit—healthier children

Researchers estimate a climate effort in the Northeast U.S. helped the region reduce toxic air pollution and avoid hundreds of asthma and autism cases, preterm births, and low birth weights.

2. Roadmap points Europe toward safer, sustainable chemicals

EU Commission releases ambitious strategy for getting hormone-disrupting chemicals out of food, products, and packaging.

3. Solar power on the rise at US schools

Report finds an 81% increase in K-12 schools using solar power over the last 5 years.

4. Pittsburgh’s Black farmers work to grow a new future

A small group of new farmers have seeded a movement to change the local food industry.

5. Derrick Z. Jackson: A Rhode Island city gets serious about climate justice

In its climate action plan, Providence, Rhode Island, is giving frontline residents' health equal billing with carbon reduction. Other cities should pay attention.


Banner photo: Ebony Lunsford-Evans, owner of FarmerGirlEB in Pittsburgh, helps a customer. (Credit: Brian Cook)

Land-based wind turbines against a rising sun

Trump administration abandons fight against wind energy as clean energy output surges

The clean energy sector is showing resilience despite challenges thrown at it by a hostile White House, a recent report found. A string of legal victories has further dampened the Trump administration’s efforts to halt wind and solar power.
Piping infrastructure leading to a geothermal energy pant
Credit: joegough/BigStock Photo ID: 11999561

How geothermal energy could power US homes

Advancements in geothermal systems and sustained political support in the U.S. provide an opportunity for this clean energy industry to scale.

Industrial landscape, oil derricks in desert valley.
Credit: DogoraSun/BigStockPhoto ID: 453434903

Trump EPA methane rule rollback to benefit billionaire Jeffery Hildebrand

Oil tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand gave millions to Donald Trump’s 2024 election campaign. He is set to reap a financial windfall as the EPA moves to weaken restrictions on wells like his that produce very little energy but release vast amounts of methane.
A coal terminal with cranes and piles of coal next to a body of water

Even $75M from Trump may not save Oakland’s embattled coal terminal

The federal funding is the latest twist in a decade-long saga to build a terminal in Oakland, California, that can export U.S. coal overseas.
An ocean research ship on the sea

Lawmakers push to stop Trump dismantling of ocean observatory project

Lawmakers are demanding the National Science Foundation stop dismantling the Ocean Observatories Initiative, a $386 million ocean monitoring network being wound down under the Trump administration.

A row of wind turbines stretching into the distance

Oklahoma's wind is ready. Its power grid is not

Wind turbines are spinning and generating power, but are being deliberately dialed back because the grid has no room to carry what they produce.

Bustling open-air market in Uganda

Solar-powered cold storage is boosting incomes for African farmers

Kenyan smallholder farmers are reducing post-harvest losses and accessing global export markets through a pay-per-use solar cold storage model pioneered by Nairobi-based company SoKo Fresh.
From our Newsroom
Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

Multiple Houston-area oil and gas facilities that have violated pollution laws are seeking permit renewals

One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro speaks with the state flag and American flag behind him.

Two years into his term, has Gov. Shapiro kept his promises to regulate Pennsylvania’s fracking industry?

A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations

silhouette of people holding hands by a lake at sunset

An open letter from EPA staff to the American public

“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”

wildfire retardants being sprayed by plane

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.

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