Christmas good news tale

A string of kindness and good deeds

Stopping to marvel at events that connected one reader to our work – and offered insight about her health and environment

An unknown caller from San Anselmo, Calif., rang the other day. I'm not sure what prompted me, but I picked up.


Joan Wienheimer was on the other end. She had heard EHN reporter Kristina Marusic on NPR talking about pollution and mental health. How, she asked, could she get a copy of our investigation on the topic, Pollution's Mental Toll?

I started to rattle off our website, but Joan interrupted: She didn't have a computer. Or an Internet connection. Could she get a paper copy? Or a cassette recording?

At that point Joan had my full attention. Nobody, in my 12 years as an online journalist, has ever asked me to mail a printout of one of our stories.

Joan told me she's 77 years young. Grew up in Pittsburgh, next to a steel mill. Her entire neighborhood used coal for heating. She's had a lifetime of ailments.

Answer to nagging questions

Joan, in our conversation, emphasized over and over how much the reporting meant to her: An answer to so many questions nagging her for years.

Some unseen force, Joan said, prompted her to turn on the radio just as Kristina's segment started – a sentiment I often hear from my mother when life serendipitously offers a blessing.

A string of kindness

After we chatted for 45 minutes and hung up, I sat thinking about the events that brought Joan to me:

  • The librarian in San Anselmo who found my phone number for Joan.
  • The Heinz Endowments, which supported the idea of a Pittsburgh-based reporter focused on regional environmental issues with national relevance.
  • Kristina Marusic, our prize-winning reporter, who tackles her beat with grace, empathy and a bulldog's tenacity. She co-founded the Pittsburgh Media Partnership, a collaboration of regional media, which led to the recent mental health report.
  • The Living on Earth producer who heard our work on local radio and saw a national story.
  • And you, our readers, who give us power.

I look back at the thread connecting all these and marvel. Joan (and my mom) would call this fate. I see a long string of kindness.

As snow starts to fall in Bozeman after weeks of unseasonable warmth and brown, I feel an immense sense of gratitude: All these pieces were in place to get Joan information that offered solace and answers.

Now to get these printouts in the mail.

Subscribe to our "Good News" newsletter: Our gift to you!

Get our Good News newsletter in your inbox - FREE!

Solutions-oriented news and commentary about our health and environment. Delivered Tuesdays.
Better than coffee.

climate desantis politics
Photo by Mick Haupt on Unsplash

DeSantis dismisses climate change, calling it ‘politicisation of weather’

Ron DeSantis began a whirlwind media tour around the launch of his 2024 presidential campaign with an interview on Fox News on Wednesday evening when the governor outlined his misconceptions about climate change.

Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.

Is Sadiq Khan really taking air pollution seriously?

London is killing us. That’s the conclusion of Sadiq Khan’s alarming new book, Breathe: Tackling the Climate Emergency, which he publicised last night at a 90-minute event held in the Royal Festival Hall.

connecticut transportation climate pollution
Photo by Derek Story on Unsplash

Zoning slows efforts to cut transportation pollution

Connecticut won’t achieve its 2030 climate targets if it leans on electric vehicles alone to lower transportation emissions. The state also needs to convince residents to drive less.

Clean energy experts are stretched too thin

“Stakeholder fatigue” threatens to tap the brakes on policy progress as many states move fast on decarbonization.

false spring climate impacts
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Gardeners beware: Climate change is setting a trap for you

More crop-killing “false springs” are bedeviling gardeners and farmers alike
washington heat pumps climate
Photo by Thom Milkovic on Unsplash

Washington state hits the brakes on landmark gas ban

Washington state building code officials voted Wednesday to delay the first statewide mandate for electric heat pumps in new buildings, dealing a blow to a landmark restriction on natural gas.

The surprising reason Coca-Cola is struggling to slash its carbon emissions

Coca-Cola has made huge strides in lowering its carbon footprint, but its biggest contribution to climate change is all of its branded refrigerators.
From our Newsroom
halliburton fracking

How the “Halliburton Loophole” lets fracking companies pollute water with no oversight

Fracking companies used 282 million pounds of hazardous chemicals that should have been regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act from 2014 to 2021.

President Joe Biden climate change

Op-ed: Biden’s Arctic drilling go-ahead illustrates the limits of democratic problem solving

President Biden continues to deploy conventional tactics against the highly unconventional threat of climate change.

oil and gas wells pollution

What happens if the largest owner of oil and gas wells in the US goes bankrupt?

Diversified Energy’s liabilities exceed its assets, according to a new report, sparking concerns about whether taxpayers will wind up paying to plug its 70,000 wells.

Paul Ehrlich

Paul Ehrlich: A journey through science and politics

In his new book, the famous scientist reflects on an unparalleled career on our fascinating, ever-changing planet.

oil and gas california environmental justice

Will California’s new oil and gas laws protect people from toxic pollution?

California will soon have the largest oil drilling setbacks in the U.S. Experts say other states can learn from this move.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.