This week's good news: a global carbon tax, tropical bird sanctuaries & Utah's new walkable city
Hey, friends. How are you?
I had an incredibly lucky week that I want to share with you.
On Tuesday, I went to one of my favorite cafes and ordered a cappuccino and an almond croissant. The barista asked if I had a loyalty card. I didn't but said that I'd take one when she offered, and she proceeded to give me four extra punches because "I've been there before". Woohoo!
Then, just after 3:00 pm, I received an email from the Broadway Lottery, as I have every day for the past month after entering to win 2 cheap tickets to The Lion King. But unlike every other day... I won! The seats were damn good too, and it was the best live show I've ever seen.
But the luck didn't stop there.
I checked the mail once I got home, and received a package from Fahlo, an incredible brand who I'm now partnering with. This organization is seriously so cool; they sell fashionable bracelets with different animal beads that link with a real-life animal being tracked and protected. You can open your app every day and see where your animal is in the world, and each bracelet sold helps out conservation organizations like Sea Turtle Conservancy, Save The Elephants, and Global Penguin Society.
I first discovered them thanks to a holiday gift from my siblings, and thanks to their gift I now have five bracelets tracking five different animals that I wear pretty much every day (Apollo the penguin, Barbara the polar bear, Habiba the elephant, Lady Jane the turtle, and Per the dolphin).
The bracelets were the cherry on top of a fantastic week. And as I mentioned, I'm partnering with them because they're exactly the type of brand that we should have in this world: providing a cool product that helps nonprofits save our wildlife.
Best of all, if you *snag your bracelet today and use the code JACOBSIMONSAYS20 at checkout, they'll give you 20% off. And if you do get one, please let me know which animal and what their name is!
Now that's enough about me. I hope your week was as fortunate as mine, and that your weekend is even better.
Enjoy this week's good news!
The good from Friday, September 1
🏥 New York City’s public hospitals reduced their emissions by 36% in a year just by making plant-based food the default for meals. (NYT)
🌞 While the price of fossil fuels has stayed pretty much the same over the past 140 years, the price of solar and wind energy has fallen dramatically, is now without a doubt the cheaper option, and continues to drop as technology improves. (Canary)
🐞 Small urban greening projects with a handful of native plants have been found to increase insect species numbers by seven times. (Ecowatch)
👑🍃 Seven new unique species have been discovered in India, each a different leaf insect known as “walking leaves”, that use camouflage to look exactly like leaves and hide from predators. (Guardian)
The good from Monday, September 4
👑🏭 A retired steel mill in Utah is being turned into a utopic walkable city, with every aspect of daily life within walking distance, a robust rail system, and it’s filled with open green spaces. (Daily Herald)
🪵 A US federal judge found a rule that allowed logging of old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest violates several laws and says the forest service must prepare a full environmental impact statement on biodiversity, climate change, and fires. (AP)
🐟 Thanks to much cleaner water, a tiny fish called the Pearl Darter is being reintroduced to the Pearl River 50 years after disappearing. (AP)
🌱 There’s a growing movement of depaving spreading across North America that replaces asphalt with greenery that reduces temperatures and flood risks while increasing well-being and biodiversity. (Nexus Media News)
The good from Tuesday, September 5
🤝 Germany announced a €450 million pledge to help Kenya build a geothermal fertilizer plant using green hydrogen, and forestry projects in central Africa. (Bloomberg)
🐧 Puffin populations in Maine have been restored to at least 3,000 and their population is stable thanks to one of the most successful seabird restoration projects called Project Puffin. (The Maine Monitor)
🐄 Brazil continues to show its dedication to ending Amazon deforestation by deploying a task force to remove thousands of cows owned by illegal land grabbers from indigenous territory. (Guardian)
👑🌳 Indonesia has officially recognized and awarded 173,000 acres of forest to 15 Indigenous Dayak communities who now have full rights to manage their forests after 11 years of trying. (Mongabay)
The good from Wednesday, September 6
📝 After a year and a half, the first draft of the global plastics treaty is now out which will aim to permanently reduce plastic production and eliminate hazardous chemicals. (Grist)
😁 Harvard completed an 85-year study on happiness and found that the quality of your relationships with family, friends, and community, is the number one factor in a long and happy life. (WEF)
🚫 California is now the largest government to endorse the call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, joining over 90 other state and city governments calling for an equitable shift away from oil, coal, and gas. (Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative)
👑🦜 An 18-year study in Costa Rica found farms that diversify instead of just growing a single crop offer sanctuary to hundreds of beautiful birds while helping their populations grow. (AP)
The good from Thursday, September 7
💰 African leaders just proposed a global carbon tax during the Africa Climate Summit which would tax fossil fuel trade, maritime transport, and aviation to fund climate investments. (BBC)
❌ The seven remaining oil and gas leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge were just reversed and canceled, alongside a proposal of 13 million acres of new protections on vulnerable Alaskan lands, showing some real climate commitments from the Biden administration. (AP)
🦏 A conservation NGO called African Parks purchased and took over a white rhino breeding program with plans to rewild over 2,000 southern white rhinos over the next decade. (Ecowatch)
⚡️ Minnesota has created an initiative that will train technicians, electricians, engineers, and all employees in companies moving toward electrification and hybrid systems to understand and accelerate electrification. (Energy News)
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Jacob
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