Good news environmental
Credit: Cliff Morris

Our top 5 good news stories of 2022

There is hope.

As we look back on the past year, let's remember progress, solutions and optimism on the environmental front.


Here are five stories from our newsroom over the past year that give us hope for the future.

1. Can "Blue Zones" be a solution to environmental injustice?

Environmental justice

Reporter Ashley James explores a novel idea from one Virginia community to address environmental racism.

2. Jennifer Roberts on nature as medicine

environmental justice

Are you listening to our Agents of Change in Environmental Justice podcast? If not, you're missing out. In one of our favorite episodes this year, Dr. Jennifer D. Roberts joined to discuss nature as medicine for our physical and mental health.

See all past episodes here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

3. Colorado is the first state to ban PFAS in oil and gas extraction

PFAS in fracking

This was a big deal. Reporter Kristina Marusic explores how Colorado became the first state to ban the use of PFAS in the extraction of oil and gas.

This story wasn't a one-off: states and companies are taking the lead on PFAS as the federal government drags its feet. Two other examples:

4. Solar power at Pennsylvania schools doubled during the pandemic

renewable energy at schools

Pennsylvania remains synonymous with oil and gas — but, as Kristina Marusic found, there's a solar movement going on at schools.

5. Replacing environmental despair with hope and action

environmental justice

Cielo Sharkus, a senior fellow with the Agents of Change in Environmental Justice program, lays out a roadmap to remaining positive and action-oriented on environmental issues.

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

Putin trolls COP28 with oil talks next door

His presence presented a symbolic split screen: Global climate talks in one frame, Putin’s oil negotiations in the other.
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.

Op-ed: How climate change harms pregnant people and their babies

In the last few years it’s become undeniable that climate-driven disasters are affecting public health.
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republican climate change denial
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. (Credit: Gage Skidmore)

Opinion: House Speaker Mike Johnson’s climate change playbook — deny the science, take the funding

It took no time for Mike Johnson to establish a hefty carbon footprint as new Speaker of the House.

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2023 is the warmest year in recorded history, scientists say

If you thought this year was crazy hot, you're not wrong. Scientists have confirmed that it's actually been the hottest year ever recorded.
Saudi Arabia renewables disinformation campaign
BigStock Photo ID: 261340198
Copyright: Anton_Medvedev

Saudi Arabia focuses on emissions from wind and solar over oil

The kingdom is elevating the use of fans and filters to pull carbon dioxide out of the sky. But its motives are under scrutiny at global climate talks.

At COP28, a growing sense of alarm over the harms of air pollution

A study released on the eve of the conference found that 8 million people around the world die annually from air pollution. And experts say the crisis is worsening.

How China's buses shaped the world's EV revolution

In the 2010s, China rolled out a rapid and widespread electric bus network. Today, China's electric buses are influencing not just the country's EV uptake, but the world's.
From our Newsroom
childrens health climate change

Delays in joining the RGGI regional climate program means excess ER visits and child illness in Pennsylvania

Up to 128 premature deaths from air pollution could have been prevented if the state had entered the program in 2022 as planned.

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.

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