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 yacht anchored in aqua blue water

A climate summit built on contradiction

At COP30 in Belém, climate delegates slept aboard diesel-powered cruise ships and traveled roads carved through newly deforested land, contradictions that unsettled many, including California’s contingent.

Solar panels, wind turbines, and large battery containers for energy storage

North Dakota utility regulators to consider state’s first-ever battery storage sites

For the first time, North Dakota utility regulators are considering proposals for massive battery storage sites that would serve as backstops for renewable energy sources. 
A poster that says All You Need is Meat with a plate of meat in front of it

In Brazil, agribusiness giants hire celebrity influencers to win hearts and minds

Brazil’s biggest meat and agrochemical companies have paid nearly 200 influencers to promote their products in the year leading up to COP30, using pop culture and wellness messaging to deflect attention from their rising emissions and environmental harms.

An aerial view of a coal plant surrounded by fog

Wisconsin coal terminal to close after 50 years as clean energy saps demand

After nearly 50 years of operation, the Midwest Energy Resources coal terminal in Superior will shut down next June as coal shipments continue to decline amid the clean energy transition.

A house completely destroyed by a hurricane

Hurricane Melissa a ‘real-time case study’ of colonialism’s legacies

Hurricane Melissa ravaged rural Jamaica; campaigners at COP30 say the disaster exposes how communities shaped by slavery and colonial extraction now bear the brunt of climate impacts.

a group of young people holding up climate protest signs in the street.
Credit: Leonardo Basso/Unsplash

Thousands march for climate action as COP30 talks enter second week

As the talks continue, some countries are pushing for a detailed “road map” for a global transition away from oil, gas and coal.
prticipants at the entrance to COP 30 pavilion
Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/isostandards/ Creative Commons: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

‘Additional promises mean nothing’: The awkward flaw in the world’s climate talks

World leaders have vowed to fight rising temperatures for years. Many of those pledges fade when the summits end.
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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