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)

President Donald Trump with American flag in background.
Crédito: Library of Congress/Unsplash

White House threat of new green cuts has Democrats seeing red

"Our democracy is badly broken when a president can illegally suspend projects for Blue states in order to punish his political enemies," Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) wrote on X.
A green rubber glove covered in oil next to an oily handprint

Roseland residents suffer as EPA delays cleanup

Weeks after an oil facility explosion coated Roseland, Louisiana, in soot and chemicals, Black residents remain exposed to contamination as the EPA struggles with funding shortfalls, threats to workers, and political pressure slowing the cleanup.

Jane Goodall, pioneering conservationist and primatologist
Credit: Copyright: Kelleher Photography/BigStock Photo ID: 192431599

Jane Goodall, pioneering conservationist and primatologist, dies at 91

Jane Goodall, the conservationist renowned for her groundbreaking chimpanzee field research and globe-spanning environmental advocacy, has died. She was 91.
Glen Canyon Dam Lake Powell
Photo by Gary Yost on Unsplash

US hydropower is at a make-or-break moment

Gigawatts of clean energy are at stake as aging hydropower plants approach deadlines for relicensing — a yearslong, often extremely expensive process.
Permian Basin oil pumpjack in New Mexico
Credit: Copyright: pancaketom/BigStock Photo ID: 6072257

Shutdown may slow oil and gas drilling on public lands

The Trump administration could look for ways to keep energy permitting up and running if much of the federal government shuts down.
Pope surrounded with people during daytime
Photo by Kai Pilger on Unsplash

Pope Leo calls for unity on climate at a divided moment

The pope invoked his predecessor, Francis, for whom the environment was a core issue, but stopped short of criticizing world leaders dismissive of climate change.
A woman inserting a charging cable into an electric vehicle

The EV tax credit is ending. How could that affect the US car market?

Electric vehicle sales jumped after the U.S. announced it would end a tax credit. Without the incentive, sales may dip, although automakers may offer discounts to lure buyers.
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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