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 man in a brown uniform with a tool box working on a heating system

Germans could save over €12,000 by ditching gas boiler for solar, battery and heat pump

Despite hefty installation costs, electrifying your home could help you save thousands of euros, new analysis shows.
A small wildfire on a mountain with a helicopter flying overhead

What to do when wildfires trigger trauma

The wildfires this summer have broken records in Germany and are unlikely to subside in future. Psychologists say post-traumatic stress disorder caused by such disasters is serious but can be treated if people seek help.
An aerial view of a river with trees that are green, yellow, and bare

As Minnesota gets warmer and wetter, what does that mean for drought?

A new national study is calling for a new framework for drought assessment that better captures the long-term effect of climate change.
Three small vials of blood two with red caps and one with a blue cap

How climate change is messing with your blood

Our blood chemistry is changing as carbon emissions rise, according to a new study.

Smart grid virtual battery energy storage network with house office factory buildings, solar panel plant, wind and li-ion electricity backup. Electric car charging on renewable power supply system.
Credit: petovarga/BigStock Photo ID: 441378998

Notes from Illinois’ virtual power plant frontier

Solrite is the latest energy services company to venture into Illinois, a sign of how quickly a new state law has jump-started the market.

Lobster men keeping Maine's sorting live lobsters to be sold at the docks at the end of their work day in Vinalhaven Island Maine.
Credit: WoodysPhotos/BigStock Photo ID: 213106882

Lobsters and acidic seas: Can shellfish help neutralize one of the greatest threats to the ocean?

Crustaceans are the subject of tests to see if alkalis added to seawater, so it absorbs more carbon dioxide, harm marine life. But Trump’s halt to funding threatens to scupper the research.

Children sitting in a classroom with books on their desks

How Florida quietly removed climate change content from textbooks

Publishers acceded to Florida's requests, watering down information on climate change’s impact; now the state has turned to updating its science standards.

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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