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)

TransAlta head office building in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Credit: Jeff Whyte Photography/BigStock Photo ID: 449639657

The tab to keep a Pacific Northwest coal plant on standby keeps rising. Who will pay?

Electric utilities across the Pacific Northwest are fuming that their customers might be saddled with the costs of a coal-burning power plant that isn’t producing any power.The messy dispute stems from the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to sustain the American coal industry.

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Our top 5 good news stories of 2020

Because we could all use a little more cheer.

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

2. Roadmap points Europe toward safer, sustainable chemicals

3. Solar power on the rise at US schools

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

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

Carbon captured

‘Kind of miracle solution’: How Paris is harnessing the Seine to replace air-con

Indigenous cultural practices are a climate solution, report finds

The ‘guerrilla solar’ era has arrived, and here’s what to know

Solar has a PR problem. Could ‘Got Milk?’ help?

The tab to keep a Pacific Northwest coal plant on standby keeps rising. Who will pay?

EU countries are bailing out fossil fuels instead of funding the green transition, Greenpeace warns

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.

Pennsylvania health advocates say Trump’s first 100 days in office have caused “100 harms” to local communities

“They're terrorizing these scientists because they want to keep them silent.”

Regulators are underestimating health impacts from air pollution: Study

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

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

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.”

New evidence links heavy metal pollution with wildfire retardants

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