butterfly

Our top 5 good news stories of 2021

It's not all doom and gloom.

As we reflect on the past year, let's remember the good — the people, communities, ideas, and science that are creating a more healthy and sustainable planet.


The environment can be a depressing beat. But here are the top five good news stories from our newsroom over the past year that remind us there is hope.

1. The pesticide ban movement gains momentum

pesticide ban

Cities and counties are increasingly banning toxic pesticides—and some are taking aim at fertilizers.

2. A Listen Into Landscape

good news podcast

A series of audio postcards spotlighting peace, place, and connection to landscape from the perspective of those working in nature.

3. How artificial intelligence can help save us from air pollution

artificial intelligence

Researchers find AI may outperform traditional models, which could give more advance warning of bad air days, and reduce harmful exposures and hospital visits.

4. From butterfly wings to shrimp claws: Mimicking nature on the nanoscale

green chemistry

Innovators look to biomimicry to address sustainability challenges.

5. Planting a million trees in the semi-arid desert to combat climate change

planting trees

Tucson's ambitious tree planting goal aims to improve the health of residents, wildlife, and the watershed.

Have a good news story tip? We want to hear about it, write us at feedback@ehn.org.

Banner photo: Metalmark Butterfly. (Credit: Andreas Kay/flickr)

minnesota solar incentives
Image by Maria Godfrida from Pixabay

Minnesota adjusts solar incentives to prioritize low-income households

A new law requires Xcel Energy to dedicate half of its Solar Rewards program budget to income-qualified customers, a category that includes schools and nonprofits.
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.

Millions of US homes are so overheated they open their windows in the winter. Why?

In a climate emergency as energy prices spiral, tens of millions of Americans are probably opening their windows all winter to let cold air in because their homes are too well heated. Why on earth is it this way?

sugarcane field
Pixabay

In the Florida Everglades, a greenhouse gas emissions hotspot

Drainage has exposed the fertile soils of the Everglades Agricultural Area, a region responsible for much of the nation’s sugar cane.

roofing construction worker
Big Stock Photo

Miami-Dade County mulls the strictest workplace heat rules in the U.S.

Miami-Dade County’s proposed heat standard would mandate water, shade and rest for outdoor workers and could be a model for other local governments to follow.
fracking site
big stock photo

Pennsylvania’s fracking boom is hurting its oldest residents

“Up until 10 years ago, I was a pretty healthy bitch. And, unfortunately, I’m dying.”
mountain wildfire
Image by Saiho from Pixabay

A California town was leveled by a wildfire. Three years on, it feels the world has forgotten

The plight of Berry Creek offers a glimpse of what’s in store in the era of climate crisis – regions hit again and again by increasingly severe disasters that disproportionately affect those with the least, a government unprepared to support them as repeated catastrophes stretch resources, and communities left behind.

Oregon agencies support floating offshore wind project, but ask for more federal engagement

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, along with six state agencies, declared their support this week for the federal government’s proposal to allow floating offshore wind energy projects off Oregon’s south coast, despite mixed feelings from local communities, the fishing industry and Tribes.
From our Newsroom
environmental justice

LISTEN: Carlos Gould on wildfire smoke and our health

“Information matters a lot — trying to explain not just that there’s a problem, but how to do something about it.”

fracking PFAS

“Forever chemicals” in Pennsylvania fracking wells could impact health of surrounding communities: Report

More than 5,000 wells in the state were injected with 160 million pounds of undisclosed, “trade-secret” chemicals, which potentially include PFAS.

800,000 tons of radioactive waste from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry has gone “missing”

800,000 tons of radioactive waste from Pennsylvania’s oil and gas industry has gone “missing”

Poor recordkeeping on hazardous waste disposal points to potential for bigger problems, according to a new study.

drought climate farming

Opinion: Climate change and soil loss — the new Dust Bowl?

How we can save our soil, stabilize the climate, and prevent a new Dust Bowl.

climate change health care

Severe flooding increasingly cutting people off from health care

Many more Americans will find themselves regularly cut off from essential services, rescue workers and health care long before water actually reaches their homes, a recent study predicts.

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