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 pile of newspapers with the words Breaking News in red

Who will pay for climate reporting?

Though reporters are busy telling the stories of our rapidly changing world, the news business is in a two-decade decline.

An aerial view of Lake Mead with lower water levels showing

Arizona moves to join lawsuit against federal Colorado River plan

Officials warn the framework could dry up the Central Arizona Project, which serves nearly 6 million people.

A small creek winding through a forest
Credit: T/Unsplash+

Despite recent rain, drought has reached all areas of Maine

The conditions are already affecting the fall harvest for farmers, and there has been a rise in the number of dry well reports.

A French sign restricting cars from a street with Parisian buildings in the background

How the climate crisis fueled the youth protests roiling France

Youth protests for better school conditions have prompted a national political crisis; lack of adaptation to a hotter world is part of the story.

A coyote walking along a road

Animal control has always been tough work. Climate change is making it harder

Bears, coyotes, mountain lions: More wild animals are tangling with humans as increased drought and heat alter their behavior. Animal control officers are scrambling to keep up.
A helicopter flying over a large fire

Wildfires hit Southern California during red-flag conditions

The Bryson Fire sparked Thursday afternoon in Malibu and quickly ballooned, burning up to 200 acres in just a few hours. Near San Diego, another major blaze broke out at Camp Pendleton.
Sugarcane branches laying on green sugarcane leaves

El Niño threatens global sugar supply

A poor sugarcane crop in India, the world’s second-largest producer, is hurting consumers and farmers — and undermining the country’s energy security goals.

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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