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)

LG sign and corporate logo
Credit: Nessluop/BigStock Photo ID: 144648998

In Michigan, LG opens one of America’s biggest battery cell factories

Trump officials touted the storage and EV plant as an example of “energy dominance,” underscoring increasing bipartisan acceptance of grid batteries.
Aerial shot of Miami Beach showing close proximity of population center to encroaching sea

Climate change reshuffles where people are moving in Florida

The threat of hurricanes and costs of insurance are pushing residents into former citrus lands and inland communities.
Highway in the American Southwest stretching towards distant mesas

Why one highway exploded this summer — and why many more are at risk

Hotter summers are wreaking havoc across transportation infrastructure. One solution: Paint everything white.
Methane cycle diagram, burning fossil fuels, landfills, plant decay in wetlands, melting permafrost, digestive processes in termites and animals.
Credit: VectorMine/BigStock Photo ID: 346141099

The threatening thaw: Climate professor on heatwave risks to tipping point of permafrost

Prof Gustaf Hugelius warns wildfires could accelerate release of methane and carbon as vast regions approach irreversible thresholds.

Person standing in an active landfill, wearing respirator and holding a cardboard sign reading "ACT NOW"

Landfills go uninvestigated due to underfunding, North Carolina audit says

At current pace, DEQ program would need 99 years to investigate all the sites of old landfills that pose health risk, NC audit reports.
The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California

How Trump is trying to crush California’s environmental policies

At least a half-dozen federal agencies have taken action against the state that has long led the nation in environmental protections.
Oil rig pumping out fracked Natural gas in West Texas
Credit: RoschetzkyPhotographyBigStock/BigStock Photo ID: 379423168

Pressure increases for Texas to allow treated drilling waste into rivers and rangeland

As oil and gas companies run out of places to put their wastewater, Texas regulators draft permits for treatment and reuse outside the oilfields.
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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