Published

1 year ago

December 24, 2024

Alice Rush

Climate change news often focuses on the negative effects on our communities. These news stories often provoke feelings of sorrow and can increase our climate grief. This resource list is intended to provide outlets that focus on the positive effects that environmental advocates are having on our planet. It is also meant to inspire communities by providing examples of projects that are in place and working to combat climate change.

Positive Climate News Sources

Climate Generation’s Gist

Climate Generation’s Gist is a monthly newsletter with updates on the nonprofit’s work in training educators, mentoring youth, and engaging with communities through storytelling to accelerate climate action.

Climate Generation’s Teach Climate Tips

Climate Generation’s Teach Climate Tips is a network of educators and includes a monthly newsletter to help equip teachers with tools to teach about climate change.

Environment America’s Good News

Environment America is a national network of 30 state environmental groups that work together to achieve clean air, clean water, clean energy, wildlife and open spaces.

Happy Eco News

Happy Eco News provides positive information about the environment and the people working to improve it.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s “The Climate Optimist”

Havard’s “The Climate Optimist” provides a monthly dose of good news about climate change.

The Daily Climate’s Good News Page

The Daily Climate is a publication of Environmental Health Sciences, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to driving science into public discussion and policy on environmental health issues including climate change.

The Optimist Daily’s Environment Page

“The Optimist Daily is your go-to herald of positive environmental news, highlighting eco-friendly solutions and scientific progress around climate action, circularity, conservation, and more. Learn about everything eco in our Environment section.”

Climate Solutions

Green Space

Community gardens are a great way to bring communities together, combat food insecurity, reduce carbon emissions from food shipments (including packaging) and improve the quality of the food being consumed. Here are a few examples of community gardens in the United States:

Growing Neighbors is located in Spokane, Washington and is a nonprofit organization that connects community members with the 26+ community gardens in the area.
Shiloh Field in Denton, Texas is home of the largest community garden in the United States. Their mission is to bring communities together and to feed the food insecure.
Soo Line Community Garden is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota and was founded in 1991. This community garden replaced an empty underutilized lot and became a green refuge to members of the neighborhood.

Green roofs, green walls, and other forms of living architecture have economical, social, and environmental benefits. This type of infrastructure is a climate adaptation that can reduce flooding, promote biodiversity, and reduce energy use by functioning as an additional layer of insulation. Tree and vegetation planting can also reduce heat indexes and have a positive effect on heat islands in cities. Here are a few examples of green infrastructure in the United States:

California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California has a green roof that covers nearly 87% of the total 2.5 acre space.
The Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, New York, has one of the largest green roofs in the United States, covering 6.25 acres.
Will’s Garden at the Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Illinois was a recipient of the 2023 Green Roof Award of Excellence in Extensive Commercial Projects.

Microgrids

Microgrids are distributed energy resources that act as a single, controllable entity. Microgrids can connect and disconnect from the grid to operate, making them an energy resiliency tool to combat power outages that disrupt communities. Advanced microgrids also have the capability to model energy use and use local assets to save costs and reduce energy losses. Here are a few examples of Microgrids in the United States:

Fort Collins, Colorado Microgrid is part of a larger project called Fort Collins Zero Energy District. This microgrid was created to assist the City of Fort Collins in reducing peak loads by 20-30%, increase the input of renewable energy and deliver improved efficiency and reliability to the grid.
Montgomery County, Maryland has two microgrids that power essential facilities during power outages. These were put in place due to the increasing number of outages from major storm events. The microgrids are focused on bringing power to their public safety headquarters and a correctional facility in the area.
Santa Rita Union School District in Salinas, California has installed Solar and energy storage systems at six different locations. These systems will be able to keep the school running for up to 7 hours during a power outage. It is also meant to offset some of the energy use pulled from the grid, saving the schools money on electricity.

Regenerative Agriculture

Regenerative Agriculture is a systematic farming method that focuses on closed-loop practices to limit the amount of input of fertilizers and pesticides, improve soil ecology and health, and promote existing ecosystems and wildlife. Here are a few examples of regenerative agriculture in the United States:

Acres of Eden is a regenerative farm located in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. This farm focuses on improving the quality of their products without the use of pesticides, preservatives or chemicals. This farm focuses on sustainable circular farming methods to improve soil health, increase biodiversity, improve water management techniques, and increase climate resilience.
Honey’s Harvest Farm is a regenerative farm located in Lothian, Maryland. They focus on permaculture practices and growing a healthy living soil to provide nutrient rich products for foods and medicines.
Rivers Edge Ranch is located in Chewelah, Washington. This farm values sustainability and keeping the land viable for generations to come. This farm focuses on rotational grazing, reduction of artificial fertilizers, improvement of water quality, decreasing tillage, and enhancing biodiversity.

Resilience Hubs

A resilience hub is typically a community gathering place such as libraries, schools, churches or community centers that focuses on addressing the root causes of vulnerability with every services’, programs and infrastructure. These hubs usually include a disaster response plan for the community to address vulnerabilities during an extreme storm event. You can find more information about resilience hubs here. Here are a few resilience hubs that currently exist in the US:

New Ulm Public Library in New Ulm, Minnesota, offers services that strive to foster an environment that promotes community connections and engagement, ignites curiosity and growth while providing services that enrich the community members lives. Their current strategic plan can be found here.
Police Athletic League of Wilmington, Delaware, is a nonprofit organization that has been serving its community for over 22 years by increasing resources for families and youth in Wilmington and New Castle that includes programming for early learning, before and aftercare, education, prevention, recreation, and other activities for community members.
Rock Island Public Library in Rock Island, Illinois, provides a multitude of services for community members including education resources on a variety of topics, a game library, a seed library, a home and hobby supply library, and a technology library. This allows families to check out items that can be used without the need to buy an item. This is not only a great resource for citizens, but it is also reducing the amount of items that will end up in the landfill someday.

Chloe is a Civil and Environmental Engineer, and graduate student at Humphrey College of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Chloe served as a Minnesota Climate Impact Corps Member at Climate Generation throughout the summer of 2024. She is pursuing a master’s degree in Science,Technology, and Environmental Policy to develop cross-cultural competency to communicate scientific information among different communities in Minnesota. Her empathetic nature and dedication to justice will aid in ensuring that solutions have legitimacy and involve cross-boundary organizing to establish equity. In her free time she enjoys going on walks with her dogs, reading thrillers, downhill skiing and riding her bike.

The post Resources to Spark Hope appeared first on Climate Generation.

Resources to Spark Hope

Climate Change

Hurricane Helene Is Headed for Georgians’ Electric Bills

Published

7 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Alice Rush

A new storm recovery charge could soon hit Georgia Power customers’ bills, as climate change drives more destructive weather across the state.

By Ryan Krugman

Hurricane Helene may be long over, but its costs are poised to land on Georgians’ electricity bills. After the storm killed 37 people in Georgia and caused billions in damage in September 2024, Georgia Power is seeking permission from state regulators to pass recovery costs on to customers.

Hurricane Helene Is Headed for Georgians’ Electric Bills

Climate Change

Amid Affordability Crisis, New Jersey Hands $250 Million Tax Break to Data Center

Published

7 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Alice Rush

Gov. Mikie Sherrill says she supports both AI and lowering her constituents’ bills.

By Rambo Talabong

With New Jersey’s cost-of-living “crisis” at the center of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s agenda, her administration has inherited a program that approved a $250 million tax break for an artificial intelligence data center.

Amid Affordability Crisis, New Jersey Hands $250 Million Tax Break to Data Center

Climate Change

Curbing methane is the fastest way to slow warming – but we’re off the pace

Published

8 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Alice Rush

Gabrielle Dreyfus is chief scientist at the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, Thomas Röckmann is a professor of atmospheric physics and chemistry at Utrecht University, and Lena Höglund Isaksson is a senior research scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

This March scientists and policy makers will gather near the site in Italy where methane was first identified 250 years ago to share the latest science on methane and the policy and technology steps needed to rapidly cut methane emissions. The timing is apt.

As new tools transform our understanding of methane emissions and their sources, the evidence they reveal points to a single conclusion: Human-caused methane emissions are still rising, and global action remains far too slow.

This is the central finding of the latest Global Methane Status Report. Four years into the Global Methane Pledge, which aims for a 30% cut in global emissions by 2030, the good news is that the pledge has increased mitigation ambition under national plans, which, if fully implemented, could result in the largest and most sustained decline in methane emissions since the Industrial Revolution.

The bad news is this is still short of the 30% target. The decisive question is whether governments will move quickly enough to turn that bend into the steep decline required to pump the brake on global warming.

What the data really show

Assessing progress requires comparing three benchmarks: the level of emissions today relative to 2020, the trajectory projected in 2021 before methane received significant policy focus, and the level required by 2030 to meet the pledge.

The latest data show that global methane emissions in 2025 are higher than in 2020 but not as high as previously expected. In 2021, emissions were projected to rise by about 9% between 2020 and 2030. Updated analysis places that increase closer to 5%. This change is driven by factors such as slower than expected growth in unconventional gas production between 2020 and 2024 and lower than expected waste emissions in several regions.

Gas flaring soars in Niger Delta post-Shell, afflicting communities

This updated trajectory still does not deliver the reductions required, but it does indicate that the curve is beginning to bend. More importantly, the commitments already outlined in countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions and Methane Action Plans would, if fully implemented, produce an 8% reduction in global methane emissions between 2020 and 2030. This would turn the current increase into a sustained decline. While still insufficient to reach the Global Methane Pledge target of a 30% cut, it would represent historical progress.

Solutions are known and ready

Scientific assessments consistently show that the technical potential to meet the pledge exists. The gap lies not in technology, but in implementation.

The energy sector accounts for approximately 70% of total technical methane reduction potential between 2020 and 2030. Proven measures include recovering associated petroleum gas in oil production, regular leak detection and repair across oil and gas supply chains, and installing ventilation air oxidation technologies in underground coal mines. Many of these options are low cost or profitable. Yet current commitments would achieve only one third of the maximum technically feasible reductions in this sector.

Recent COP hosts Brazil and Azerbaijan linked to “super-emitting” methane plumes

Agriculture and waste also provide opportunities. Rice emissions can be reduced through improved water management, low-emission hybrids and soil amendments. While innovations in technology and practices hold promise in the longer term, near-term potential in livestock is more constrained and trends in global diets may counteract gains.

Waste sector emissions had been expected to increase more rapidly, but improvements in waste management in several regions over the past two decades have moderated this rise. Long-term mitigation in this sector requires immediate investment in improved landfills and circular waste systems, as emissions from waste already deposited will persist in the short term.

New measurement tools

Methane monitoring capacity has expanded significantly. Satellite-based systems can now identify methane super-emitters. Ground-based sensors are becoming more accessible and can provide real-time data. These developments improve national inventories and can strengthen accountability.

However, policy action does not need to wait for perfect measurement. Current scientific understanding of source magnitudes and mitigation effectiveness is sufficient to achieve a 30% reduction between 2020 and 2030. Many of the largest reductions in oil, gas and coal can be delivered through binding technology standards that do not require high precision quantification of emissions.

The decisive years ahead

The next 2 years will be critical for determining whether existing commitments translate into emissions reductions consistent with the Global Methane Pledge.

Governments should prioritise adoption of an effective international methane performance standard for oil and gas, including through the EU Methane Regulation, and expand the reach of such standards through voluntary buyers’ clubs. National and regional authorities should introduce binding technology standards for oil, gas and coal to ensure that voluntary agreements are backed by legal requirements.

One approach to promoting better progress on methane is to develop a binding methane agreement, starting with the oil and gas sector, as suggested by Barbados’ PM Mia Mottley and other leaders. Countries must also address the deeper challenge of political and economic dependence on fossil fuels, which continues to slow progress. Without a dual strategy of reducing methane and deep decarbonisation, it will not be possible to meet the Paris Agreement objectives.

Mottley’s “legally binding” methane pact faces barriers, but smaller steps possible

The next four years will determine whether available technologies, scientific evidence and political leadership align to deliver a rapid transition toward near-zero methane energy systems, holistic and equity-based lower emission agricultural systems and circular waste management strategies that eliminate methane release. These years will also determine whether the world captures the near-term climate benefits of methane abatement or locks in higher long-term costs and risks.

The Global Methane Status Report shows that the world is beginning to change course. Delivering the sharper downward trajectory now required is a test of political will. As scientists, we have laid out the evidence. Leaders must now act on it.

The post Curbing methane is the fastest way to slow warming – but we’re off the pace appeared first on Climate Home News.