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 woman holding a fan and holding her hand to her forehead on a hot day

Record Southern California heat wave raises deadly health risks

Temperatures up to 35°F above normal could exceed 100°F in Southern California , with warm nights heightening the risk of heat illness and death.

A view of a wind turbine from below
Credit: A. C./Unsplash+

Aging wind turbines are a massive clean energy opportunity

Upgrading existing wind farms is a climate win hiding in plain sight, according to a new nationwide analysis.

A person sitting on a dock breaking the ice on a lake

Ice used to be safe. Warming winters are changing that

Warming winters are making ice thinner and less predictable, leading to more drownings as people fall through while fishing, hunting and recreating on frozen waters.
Two wooden chairs next to a field that has a solar shade panel over it

How Ann Arbor, Michigan, is creating its own clean energy utility

Investor-owned utilities have been slow to ditch oil and gas. The city of Ann Arbor plans to boost access to renewables through a new dual-service model.
A marshland environment with a shoreline and a duck sitting at the edge of the water

Big Oil knew it was wrecking Louisiana’s coast, records show

Parish lawsuits, including one in front of the Supreme Court, could make oil giants pay to restore the state’s vanishing marshes.

An illustration of donald trump looking at the viewer

4 ways Trump is sabotaging climate action around the world

In just one year, Trump has derailed an international carbon tax, boosted fossil fuel forecasts, and sought to silence an island nation.
Flaring (burning off) of excess methane at oil and gas well
Credit: Leonid Ikan/BigStock Photo ID: 82710347

Revealed: The world’s worst mega-leaks of methane driving global heating

Fixing a leak can be simple and equivalent to closing a coal power station, making lack of action maddening, say analysts.

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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