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)

View of the beach and palm trees from above

Florida House to consider ban on local ‘net-zero’ policies

The work that more than a dozen local governments have undertaken over the past 15 years to combat climate change could be eliminated if legislation making its way to the floor of the Florida House gets passed into law later this year.

A view of a village on hills above the ocean

Rising seas and development push Mexico’s Ikoots community toward relocation

In the Indigenous Ikoots community of Cuauhtémoc on Mexico’s Pacific coast, worsening coastal erosion and flooding are forcing residents to consider relocation.

A man taking a photo of a wall covered in mold

A hotter, wetter South becomes a breeding ground for mold

In Asheville, a housing crisis is colliding with mold, a poorly understood health threat that ballooned in the wake of Helene.
A man's hand scattering seeds onto a farm field

Extreme weather having an impact on farmers’ mental health

Climate change is exacerbating feelings of uncertainty and hopelessness among Canadian farmers, researchers say.

A word map with words like misinformation, misleading, and inaccurate in large type

Podcast: Why science communication fails

In this episode of The Great Simplification, researcher John Cook explains why simply debunking false claims can backfire and how identity, tribalism and flawed reasoning shape what science people accept.

Donald Trump speaks to supporters at a rally in 2016
Credit: actionsports/BigStock Photo ID: 125165264

State of the Union: Trump’s plan for rising energy costs — pump oil, make data centers pay

Amid a lengthy State of the Union speech, President Trump pledged to shield Americans from higher electricity costs driven by energy-thirsty AI data centers.

A natural gas power plant at sunset

Data center developers asked Trump for relief from pollution rules

Though the companies weren't granted exemptions, their requests illustrate the data center industry's desperate quest for energy.
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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