Tag: current events

Author: Camellia Moors ‘22

Welcome to our post-Dean’s Date Good News Friday! If finals are making things seem a little bleak, here’s some positive news to get you through the week:

1. Princeton University Expands Solar Power: In April 2019, Princeton released a Sustainability Action Plan with the goal of reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2046. This week, the university came one step closer to that goal by announcing it would install eight new solar array projects. These panels are in addition to the solar field near campus that has been in operation for nearly a decade. The new projects are expected to triple the generating capacity of Princeton University’s solar farms from 5.5% to 19% of campus electricity use.

2. Scientists Regrow Coral Reefs: Members of the organization Raising Coral Costa Rica are using coral samples to reconstruct damaged reefs. By breaking off coral samples, growing them in a nursery, and then reintroducing them into their natural environment, the scientists can study how corals can be more resistant to climate change while simultaneously reconstructing depleted reefs.

3. Building Homes From Recycled Plastic: United Nations-Habitat has partnered with the startup company Othalo to build houses from recycled plastic waste in Kenya. The project aims to quickly and sustainably help solve Kenya’s permanent housing deficit. The first factory to produce building materials for the homes is expected to open next year.

That’s all for this week! Join us next time for another roundup of good news. Until then, take a look at our previous Good News Friday editions and contact us if you have any good news you would like to share!

Author: Grace Liu ‘23

Welcome to our first Good News Friday of December! As we head into reading period and finals, let’s take some time to appreciate all the positive environmental developments that have been happening recently. Here are three hopeful bits of good news to kick off the holiday (and exam) season:

1. Environmental Activists Recognized: The Goldman Environmental Prize (aka the “Green Nobel Prize”) honors six grassroots environmental activists, one from each (populated) continental region of the world. This year’s winners include: an Indigenous Karen activist from Myanmar who worked to establish the world’s first peace park in an active conflict zone, an Indigenous Mayan beekeeper who spearheaded a coalition to ban Monsanto soy beans in seven Mexican states, a French climate activist who pressured France’s three largest banks to stop supporting coal development, a youth activism leader who brought about a ban on single-use plastics in the Bahamas, an Indigenous Waorani woman who enacted legal action to stop oil extraction in a huge plot of the Amazon rainforest, and an activist who changed the trajectory of Ghana’s energy future. Read more about their inspiring stories here. 

2. Unlimited Geothermal Energy Startup: Eavor, a promising geothermal energy startup, has developed an innovative yet simple system, dubbed the Eavor-Loop, which harvests heat from deep in the earth to be used for commercial heating applications or to generate electricity. While conventional geothermal plants drill straight down into the earth, the Eavor-Loop consists of a pressurised self-contained loop where cold water is constantly heated underground and the heat is extracted at the surface. The system is essentially self-powered due to convection, and Eavor predicts it will be able to provide gigawatts of dispatchable energy anywhere in the world for less than $50/MWh by the end of the decade, making its technology cost-competitive with natural gas and coal.

3. Lab-Grown Chicken Nuggets for Sale: For the first time ever, cultured meat grown in a bioreactor has been approved for sale. The “chicken bites,” produced by the U.S. company Eat Just, recently passed the safety review of the Singapore Food Agency. As of now, the lab-grown alternative is much more expensive than conventional meat, but Eat Just predicts that it will eventually be cheaper when production is scaled up. According to some scientists, cutting meat and dairy consumption is the single biggest action a person can take to reduce their impact on the environment, so this new development is a huge win for sustainable food production.

That’s it for this week! Tune in next time for more encouraging environmental news. If you’d like to share some Good News with us, please feel free to get in touch!

Author: Camellia Moors ‘22

Welcome again to our Good News Friday series! I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving (maybe even including some of our Sustainable Meals for Busy Students recipes!). In the same positive holiday spirit, here are our top three uplifting pieces of environmental news for this week:

1. Global growth in renewable energy: A recent report published by the International Energy Agency predicts a 4% increase in installed renewable energy capacity this year, with renewables accounting for approximately 90% of 2020’s total power capacity growth. This comes at the same time that many investors have started redirecting funds into sustainable energy and away from fossil fuels, which could spur further growth in the renewable energy sector. 

2. Germany supports electric vehicles: Earlier this month, Germany’s Economy Ministry agreed to provide €2 billion ($2.33 billion) in aid funds to its auto industry to support “a switch to greener engines and automated driving.” This is especially important in light of the country’s hopes to cut emissions by approximately 50% compared to 1990 levels by 2030.

3. Legal win for the Alaskan tundra: The debate over a controversial, proposed copper and gold mine in Alaska, which would have been one of the world’s largest mines for such materials, appears to have finally been settled after the Army Corps of Engineers denied the project a critical permit. Declared “contrary to the public interest,” the Pebble Mine would have threatened salmon breeding grounds. It has long been opposed by Alaskan Native Americans, environmentalists, and the fishing industry. The NRDC, for example, praised the decision, with its senior attorney Joel Reynolds stating, “Amen to certainty for this cherished area, the tribes and community of Bristol Bay, and its wildlife and waters… this move recognizes there was never any way to mitigate the harm Pebble Mine would do.”

There’s always positive environmental news somewhere if you dig a little. Join us next week for another Good News Friday, and until then, check out our past editions and contact us if you have any good news you would like to share!

Author: Grace Liu ’23

Welcome back to Good News Friday! I hope you’re ready to read some positive picks from recent environmental updates. This week, we’re happy to hear about Japan’s commitment to carbon-neutrality, rebounding bee populations, and an initiative to save coral reefs. 

1. Japan joins carbon-neutrality: During his first major policy speech, Japan’s new prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, committed the country to carbon neutrality by 2050. Japan is currently the world’s fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and the announcement comes just weeks after China, Japan’s regional rival, said it would reduce its net carbon emissions to zero by 2060. 

According to Mr. Suga, “There’s no question that having to make such a drastic change in the extremely short period of just 30 years is very difficult.” But, he adds, “I’m optimistic.”

2. Bring back the bees: The latest bee colony report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows a 14% growth in bee colony numbers across the nation. Some states report an even more substantial increase. For example, Maine recorded a surprising 73% growth in bee colonies in the past two years. However, some native bee populations are still in decline, so the next step is to figure out how we can protect both honeybees and native bees.

3. Scientists save coral reefs: Scientists with Raising Coral Costa Rica have been cultivating an underwater nursery for corals by snapping off coral pieces from existing reefs. This nursery helps the team test techniques to grow coral and restore ancient reefs in Golfo Dulce, southwestern Costa Rica. While the research helps revive local ecosystems, the group hopes to restore reefs in neighboring countries as well. According to scientist and diver Joanie Kleypas, “It’s exhausting but we’re rewarded with the fact that the corals want to grow … As long as they don’t give up, we won’t.”

I hope you enjoyed our selections this week! Please remember that there are always good things happening in the sustainability sphere if you know where to look. If you’d like to share some Good News with us, submit an article by contacting us.

Author: Camellia Moors ‘22

Welcome to the third edition of our Good News Friday series! While it might be Friday the 13th, that’s no reason to focus on negative news. Here just a sample of some of the positive goings-on that have happened this week:

• Welcome Back to Paris: While the United States officially left the Paris Agreement on November 4th, President-Elect Biden has pledged to return the nation to the accord on day one of his administration. World leaders in the UK, France, and elsewhere have happily accepted this planned change in policy, which, coupled with Mr. Biden’s $1.7 trillion clean energy plan, could put the Paris Agreement’s goal to limit global warming to 1.5°C “within striking distance.”

• Australian Solar Power: South Australia recently became “the first major jurisdiction in the world to be powered entirely by solar energy.” For approximately an hour on Sunday, October 11, the state was able to meet all of its energy needs with a mix of rooftop and commercial solar power. While one hour might not sound like a lot, this test of solar power capacity lays the foundation for using even more solar power in the future and helps ease concerns about solar power reliability.

• Reusing Greenhouse Gases: Linggas, a Chinese industrial gas company, recently demonstrated its method for capturing and purifying the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (aka laughing gas) emitted by nylon manufacturing. Nitrous oxide’s global warming potential is approximately 300 times that of carbon dioxide and accounts for 7% of American annual total greenhouse gas emissions. This new mitigation method takes carbon (or, in this case, nitrogen) capture a step above what is normally expected, opening doors for the future of climate change mitigation.

Environmental news doesn’t always have to be doom and gloom. If you’d like to share some Good News with us, submit an article by contacting one of our Blog Editors.

Author: Grace Liu ‘23

Welcome to the second edition of our Good News Friday series! Whether you’re excited about or dreading the results of the election, we can all use some good news. Here are a few happy happenings in the sustainability sphere to brighten up your week:

1. China chooses carbon neutrality: In a surprising announcement at the annual UN climate meeting, President Xi Jinping committed China to reach carbon neutrality by 2060. This decision could lower global-warming projections by 0.3 degrees Celsius, the largest reduction ever estimated as the result of a policy change, according to Climate Action Tracker.  Every country that commits to carbon neutrality adds pressure on other nations to join this global effort. Currently, the US and India are two of the biggest economies outside of this committed carbon-neutrality group.

2. Seagrasses save ecosystems: As part of a 20-plus-years project, researchers and volunteers from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and The Nature Conservancy have spread more than 70 million eelgrass seeds over the salt marshes off the southern end of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The eelgrass beds have grown to cover 3,612 hectares, and long-term monitoring of the restored areas reveals a thriving and resilient ecosystem, with the seagrasses acting as a carbon and nitrogen sink. The researchers say that the success of this project provides a glimmer of hope for ecosystems and the climate.

3. Legislation restores leopard populations: Despite their resilience and superb hunting abilities, most leopard species are endangered due to habitat degradation and poaching. However, according to collaborative research from the University of Copenhagen and colleagues from China, leopard populations in northern China are on the mend. This population rebound is linked to the Chinese government’s 13th five-year plan, which was implemented in 2015 to restore biodiversity in the area.

Even though the news is filled with debates and disasters (or disastrous debates), there is always hope hidden in the margins. If you’d like to share some Good News with us, submit an article by contacting one of the Blog Editors.

Author: Camellia Moors ’22

It is admittedly easy to get caught up in the seemingly endless torrent of negative environmental news from around the globe, which can make positive actions feel pointless. In doing this, we can lose track of positive developments and, even worse, lose hope for our planet’s future. If you are in this position, welcome to our new “Good News Friday” series, which hopes to provide a breath of fresh air with some recent positive environmental news from around the world. 

Here’s a list of just some of the things that have been happening recently:

1. Bye-Bye Ocean Plastic: It is no secret that plastics pollute our oceans, present on both the surface and the seafloor and worsened by the volumes of trash generated during the pandemic. Groups like the Ocean Voyages Institute and The Ocean Cleanup, however, have made it their mission to remove some of this pollution: the former recently removed the largest-ever haul of plastic (103 tons) from the Pacific Ocean, and the latter plans to present its first product made from collected ocean plastics later this month.

2. Planetary Emergency: The United State’s announcement of its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in 2017 sent shockwaves around the world, threatening future progress towards obtaining emissions goals. While that withdrawal cannot officially go into effect until November 4th of this year (one day after the election), one reason for hope for the future of global cooperation is that the leaders of 64 countries plus the European Union have acknowledged the “planetary emergency” and have pledged to undertake a variety of actions to counteract environmental degradation.

3. Climate Cases: Litigation seems to have become a common way of targeting polluters and encouraging environmental justice in recent years. One example is an ongoing suit filed by state and local governments against the American Petroleum Institute (API) which charges that API misled consumers about the climate impacts of fossil fuels. Regardless of the case’s outcome, advocates see the act of litigation alone as providing serious leverage against big oil.

It might not seem like it, but progress, even if slow, is progress nonetheless. Here’s to hoping it gets even better! 

If you’d like to share some Good News with us, submit an article by contacting one of the Blog Editors.