Author: Grace Liu ’23
Welcome back to another edition of Good News Friday! We hope that these positive tidbits will help make your day better and give you a more positive outlook on the future of sustainability.
New EPA head has an ambitious climate agenda: The Senate recently confirmed Michael Regan as the new head of the EPA, making him the first black man to lead the agency and a promising appointee in the eyes of environmental activists. Regan is a former EPA employee with big plans to rebuild the agency in the wake of a new administration. Regan has also had first-hand experience with environmental injustices, having previously lived close to an industrial hog farm. He puts climate change, environmental justice, and water quality on the top of his priority list.
First large-scale offshore wind farm: The interior department recently endorsed a project to build a large-scale wind farm off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, MA. This 2.8 billion dollar project would be a huge step forward in the transition to clean energy. It will consist of up to 84 turbines that could generate enough electricity to power about 400,000 homes.
Making paper from wheat straw: A new paper mill in Washington state makes paper not from trees, but from wheat straw, the agricultural residue left over after grain harvesting. Currently, three billion trees per year are used to make paper packaging, so a treeless paper-making process is a promising development for conservation and climate mitigation.
Thanks for reading another trio of positive environmental updates! As always, we hope that we’ve brightened your day and that you come back next week for some more good news. In the meantime, feel free to take a look at previous posts or share some good news with us!