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)

A closeup of a mosquito on a person's skin

Invasive tropical mosquito found breeding in east London

The climate crisis could increase incursions of Aedes aegypti, which can transmit Zika virus and dengue, experts say.

A satellite view of the earth showing a swirling hurricane off the Gulf Coast

Who decides what climate change caused?

The rush to blame climate change for every disaster may be making it harder to explain what is actually happening.
Two women floating in a pool

The summer we love is slipping away

From the Southwest to the Jersey shore, climate change is altering the traditions and norms that have defined summer for generations.
A closeup of the top of a wind turbine with farm fields in the background

Coal increased its share of Iowa electricity generation in 2025, report shows

Iowa Environmental Council’s 2026 report on Iowa’s electric generation shows a “reversal” in progress toward renewable sources. 
Two men shaking hands

Oil lobby tanking climate Superfund bills in Oregon, 11 states despite public support, study finds

Brown University researchers found that a small amount of testimony from fossil fuel lobbyists opposing polluter pay laws has had greater power than massive public support.

Three young Nepali girls looking into the camera

The Himalayas didn’t cause the climate crisis. Why are Nepalis paying the price?

August’s deadly floods remind us: The developed countries that caused the climate crisis bear responsibility and a debt of justice.
A sweet potato pie sitting on a white surface

Could climate change lead to sweet potato pie supremacy?

Climate change will increasingly be a factor in holiday cooking, with extreme heat, droughts and deluges, and other weather affecting agricultural production.

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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