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 woman sitting in a field holding a bunch of flowers.

‘It fully changed my life!’ How young rewilders transformed a farm – and began a movement

At Maple Farm, nature is returning in droves: nightingales, grass snakes, slowworms, bats and insects. All due to the vision of a group determined to accelerate its recovery.

Person holding a cell phone and notepad on their lap while writing.

How China silences environmental reporters beyond its borders

Journalists who report on the harms caused by China’s overseas infrastructure buildout in Africa face intimidation, surveillance and police pressure.
Video camera on a tripod facing a green hedge.

This former oil worker is now exposing dirty methane emissions

After fracking fouled her air and water, Sharon Wilson devoted her life to documenting the emissions fueling the climate crisis.
Hands holding brown soil with sunlit trees in background.

The secret to tackling the climate crisis could be right under our feet. Here’s why

Despite being one of the largest natural carbon sinks, most nations exclude soil from their climate plans.
an aerial view of a data center flanked by trees, roads and green fields.

How batteries, not natural gas, can power the data center boom

Tech companies are turning to natural gas to help power the growing number of A.I. data centers in the U.S. Jigar Shah, a former Energy Department official, explains how installing batteries instead can help balance the grid, lower electricity bills, and support renewable energy.
Aerial photo of coal-fired power plant
Credit: irphoto.gr/BigStock Photo ID: 4550715

Donald Trump exempts coal in steelmaking from Clean Air Act

President Trump is exempting coal used in steelmaking from Biden-era Clean Air Act regulations for two years.

Oil pumps are operating in an industrial landscape.

Republican split widens as Texas regulator bashes carbon capture

A growing number of GOP elected officials question the use of carbon capture and storage for oil and gas projects.
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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