This week's good news: No more styrofoam takeout & animals are returning to Australia
Hello, friends. Happy Friday!
Quick question: Is this your first time getting this Climativity newsletter? The 5th? 20th? I wanna know! Never hesitate to reply to this email to give me your feedback, or just to say what's up.
It's been incredibly beautiful here in Brooklyn, which makes it a lot easier for me to walk around the city and tell you about some good stories.
Someone recently asked me what I'm going to do when the weather's really bad... Haven't run into that issue yet, so we'll just have to wait and see!
This week was full of all sorts of good news, and our video roundups reached well over 250,000 people.
And next week I'm off to San Francisco to learn about a new electric vehicle battery technology that replaces your empty battery with a fully charged one in just minutes, instead of making you plug in and wait. Stay tuned for more!
Shout out to each and every one of you, especially those reading this right now 💚.
And let's get on with the show.
The Good From Friday, May 5, 2023
☄️ A massive meteor shower passed by the earth with fragments of Halley's Comet creating up to two times the number of usual shooting stars.
🪸 Scientists discovered a new resiliency in certain coral reefs that can change out the algae within their cells to build heat tolerance and survive our unprecedented water temperatures.
🗽 New York just passed the Build Public Renewables Act that’ll drastically scale up renewable energy production to solely clean electricity by 2030 and move utilities towards being publicly owned and thus better and cheaper.
🛢️ A company is turning abandoned oil wells into gravity batteries that stop leaking pollutants and store clean energy.
The Good From Monday, May 8, 2023
🎓 Students have occupied 22 schools across Europe to demand authorities take climate action and listen to the science.
🐟 Beautiful "royal" sturgeon are returning to UK waters thanks to conservationists succeeding in France and Germany.
📚 After 14 hours of debate, Utah's state education board voted to keep climate change on their grade school science curriculum.
🔋 A California bill would require all electric vehicles to have bidirectional charging capabilities to help produce power in the event of a blackout.
🐠 Seattle settled a lawsuit with the Sauk-Suiattle Indian tribe that asserts the "rights of salmon" and will create free-flowing paths to reverse their population decline.
The Good From Tuesday, May 9, 2023
🛩️ A hydrogen-powered jet is on its third prototype that will reduce emissions to nearly zero and cut travel times by 75% (fly from Memphis to Dubai in 2.5 hours!)
🇮🇳 India plans to stop building any newly proposed coal power plants.
🔋 80% of new cars sold in Norway are already electric giving them cleaner air and quieter streets.
🥡 Oregan became the 10th state to ban styrofoam takeout containers linked to massive amounts of waste, cancer, and nerve damage.
⚡️ California proposed a law to calculate electricity bills based on income levels to create a more equal way to transition to clean vehicles and heating.
The Good From Wednesday, May 10, 2023
🐺 Gray wolves are being reintroduced to Colorado by the end of the year using a 3-year science-based reintroduction plan.
☀️ For the first time ever, a solar farm has been connected to the UK power grid.
🇨🇴 Colombia has created a women-led electric bus fleet with high-paying jobs and is convincing more Bogatanos to take public transportation.
🐮 Brazil was the 5th largest exporter of live cattle in the world but just banned the practice due to animal rights violations, following in the footsteps of New Zealand doing the same a few weeks ago.
🥥 American coastlines are being protected by shredded coconuts, plants, and other natural elements as better and cleaner alternatives to concrete barriers.
The Good From Thursday, May 11, 2023
📸 More than 7 million photos were collected throughout Australia in areas affected by bushfires and captured a resurgence of wildlife including eagles, koalas, a fox, and much more.
🇯🇵 Japan is testing vending machines that capture CO2 as they suck in air to cool or warm the drinks inside.
☢️ 55% of US adults now support the use of nuclear power, the most in a decade.
🚗 NYC is moving forward with a congestion pricing plan that will decrease traffic & air pollution while boosting public transportation and walkability.
🇫🇷 The largest money lender in France announced they're no longer investing in the development of any new oil and gas fields.
Wait! Before you go, let's take some simple but meaningful climate action together:
- Have you made any donations this year yet? As we're getting midway through 2023, now's a good time to give back. Three of my favorite nonprofits are the 350 (taking action to end fossil fuels and build renewables), NRDC (protecting and safeguarding nature), and Evergreen Action (mobilizing to build a better future).
- Check out my favorite books on the environment to learn everything from the mysterious lives of fungi, to what NYC will look like in the year 2140. (These are only the best of the best!) The more you know, the better you can act, and these helped guide me on my environmentalist journey.
- Joi me in skipping the meat today! I'm not a vegetarian, but I do mostly eat plant-based foods, which is one of the most impactful and simple individual actions you can take every day. Check out this calculator to see the carbon footprint of meat and other foods you may be eating, and help you make better choices.
I genuinely appreciate you joining us in making the world a better place <3
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Stay cool,
Jacob
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