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.

a row of flags in front of a building.
Credit: Mmoka/Unsplash

World climate talks resume without U.S. as global negotiators assess new path forward

The United States skipped a major round of United Nations climate negotiations in Bonn, Germany this week, leaving other nations and U.S. civil society groups to navigate the talks without the world's largest fossil fuel producer at the table.

Bob Berwyn reports for Inside Climate News.

Keep reading...Show less
Smoke billows from an industrial chimney at sunset near several homes.

Judge rules EPA overstepped in cutting pollution grants

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from canceling $600 million in environmental justice grants aimed at helping underserved communities reduce pollution.

Rachel Frazin reports forThe Hill.

In short:

  • The grants stem from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which set aside $3 billion for environmental justice programs.
  • The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Biden had planned to distribute the $600 million through regional groups, which would fund local efforts, before the Trump EPA terminated the grants earlier this year.
  • Judge Adam Abelson ruled the EPA's cancellation exceeded its authority “precisely because they are ‘environmental justice’ programs."

Key quote:
The move included a “lack of any reasoned decision-making, or reasoned explanation.”

— Judge Adam Abelson, U.S. District Court

Why this matters:
Underserved communities often face the greatest environmental health risks and climate impacts. These grants were designed to help local groups respond to long-standing environmental harms and health risks, and canceling them would have cut off vital support just as cleanup efforts were beginning to gain traction. The Trump administration has also attempted to cancel a similar $20 billion program that would fund climate-friendly projects.

coffee mug near open folder with tax withholding paper.

Senate Republicans move to cut clean energy tax credits despite bipartisan benefits

Congressional Republicans are advancing a tax plan that would slash incentives for clean energy and electric vehicles, drawing criticism from advocates and some GOP members whose districts benefit from green investments.

Alexa St. John reports for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
A stream running through green forested hills.

Brazil moves to auction vast oil blocks despite climate and Indigenous concerns

Brazil is set to auction off oil and gas exploration rights in a massive offshore and Amazon region sale, prompting backlash from Indigenous groups and environmental advocates just months before it hosts the Cop30 climate summit.

Constance Malleret reports for The Guardian.

Keep reading...Show less
An image showing a downpour with a caution sign.

New research links stalled jet stream to rising summer weather extremes

The number of extreme summer weather events driven by trapped atmospheric waves has tripled since 1950 due to climate change, new research shows.

Seth Borenstein reports for The Associated Press.

Keep reading...Show less
Farm machinery helping harvest turnips.

How agribusiness lobbying boosts corporate control over food and climate policy

Industrial agriculture companies spent hundreds of millions lobbying Congress ahead of the stalled farm bill debate, further distancing everyday Americans from decisions shaping the nation’s food systems and climate future.

Brian Calvert reports for Civil Eats.

Keep reading...Show less
Steel mill under a cloudy sky.
Credit: Michi/Pixabay

Steelmaker retreats from clean energy plans as hydrogen costs and politics shift

Cleveland-Cliffs is scaling back plans to build the nation's first green steel plant in Ohio, pivoting away from hydrogen and back to fossil fuels as federal incentives face repeal and political winds change in Washington.

Alexander C. Kaufman reports for Canary Media.

Keep reading...Show less
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.

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