We are so back!
Hey fam,
For the first and only time, we've entered 2025! And it's off to a speedy start.
Today, the US Supreme Court is hearing TikTok's arguments on why the effective ban shouldn't go through.
As I write this, TikTok's China-based parent company ByteDance currently has until January 19th to sell the platform–which they explicitly said they won't do–and if they don't, app stores won't be allowed to carry the app anymore in the US, effectively banning it.
It's not clear what's going to happen.
TikTok is where I started creating content back in the thick of the 2020 pandemic, and home to the largest chunk of my audience (475,000+ people!) who care deeply about these stories we share.
If the ban does happen, my audience will decrease by more than half... but that's part of what this newsletter is for. On here, we aren't relying on social media algorithms or another platform to communicate, we're simply emailing, and that's why it's so important.
Millions of Americans will have their habits, information streams, and businesses thrown out if the ban goes through. I'll take a big hit on my income (as my primary way of making money is social media partnerships), but whatever happens, I'll certainly keep reporting these stories of progress.
I truly believe in the power of this community (and so many others) to keep pushing for a better future, no matter what. Much more to come in 2025 and beyond.
Thanks for being here, and enjoy this week's good news!
Monday, January 6
💰 Congestion pricing has finally started in New York City, charging a toll to drive in the busiest parts of the city which has backlash but worked for years in other cities like Singapore, Stockholm, and Paris to reduce traffic, improve public transportation, and clean up the air (Winnie Hu & Ana Ley|NYT)
🪻 One of the coolest plants of all time has been discovered in the Borneo mountains which eats insects, looks like and was named after orangutans, and is the largest pitcher-style plant known to science (Bob Yirka|Phys)
🌊 625 million acres of federal waters in the US and all the wildlife within them are now protected from drilling thanks to a new ban issued in these last weeks of Biden’s presidency which will be difficult to cancel thanks to the law, likely permanently protecting these coasts (Matthew Daly|AP)
📚 And today’s community win comes from ms.daisyblue whose family built and stocked a tiny library to share books with their community.
Tuesday, January 7
🐌 1,329 of the tiniest snails you’ve ever seen thought to be extinct for a century have been released back into the wild after conservationists found a small surviving population, built a temporary home in a shipping container to grow their numbers, and marked them with safe UV paint to monitor as they head back into their natural habitat (Victoria Gill|BBC)
💰 A new bill just signed into law by New York will make the world’s worst polluters pay to repair damages their actions have caused and avoid future damages, which is called the ‘Climate Change Superfund Act’ and simply put brings some accountability to the biggest emitting companies in the state (AP)
🏙️ Every one of Chicago’s 411 city buildings is now running on renewable energy, including municipal buildings like city hall, libraries, and fire stations, making it the largest US city to do so in a big step towards powering all buildings in the city this way within the decade (Paige Bennett|Ecowatch)
🦗 And today’s community win comes from Laurell Hamilton who converted their backyard into a tall grass meadow attracting fireflies and crickets while preventing floods.
Wednesday, January 8
🐆 A rare litter of three Arabian leopard cubs were born, with the rowdy males and sweeter female happy and healthy according to conservationists. The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) is leading conservation efforts with Panthera's support to breed & reintroduce these Critically Endangered cats into the Saudi Arabian wilderness, with these births a substantial milestone in protecting their future. (Irene Wright|Miami Herald, Panthera)
🚫 Belgium has become the first nation in the EU to ban disposable vape sales in an effort to reduce both waste and nicotine addiction for young people, in one of many policy examples that improve the health of humanity and the planet together while other nations are discussing similar moves (Jennifer Rankin & Angela Giuffrida|The Guardian)
🇮🇩 Indonesia just launched a huge program to give free meals to 83 million children and pregnant women to combat malnutrition in nearly a quarter of the nation’s residents while improving the income and quality of life for local farmers (Niniek Karmini & Dita Alangkara|AP)
🐶 And today’s community win comes from Percy who adopted a dog named Finn (who’s a very good boy) and they sponsored the adoption fee for another dog that they couldn’t take in themselves.
Thursday, January 9
☕️ Your caffeine addiction might be somewhat justified as a new study found that drinking several cups of coffee or tea a day can lower your risk for developing some mouth and throat cancers, with decaf helping as well, and while the reason isn’t clear it might be certain properties blocking the negative effects of carcinogens (Mike McRae|Science Alert)
🛣️ 16 wildlife crossings in 16 US states were announced along with $125 million in grants to build these bridges over or tunnels under busy roads for animals to safely cross, to help reduce the estimated 1 million wildlife vehicle collisions and associated injuries and costs that occur each year (USDOT)
🚫 Thailand just banned plastic waste imports, a practice where rich countries pay south-east Asian countries to ship them plastic waste to allegedly recycle but often gets burned instead, meaning toxic pollution will decrease in Thailand and hopefully others will follow and pressure plastic production to reduce overall (Sandra Laville|The Guardian)
🌱 And today’s community win comes from wil_makes_art who carries native seed bombs which are basically balls made of seeds and clay, and they’ve been tossing them into unused land to help bring back some native vegetation to the area.
Bonus stories
💸 The US banned medical debt from credit reports,
🧑⚖️ The Montana Supreme Court upheld a previous ruling filed by 16 youth to hold the state accountable for violating their constitutional right to “a clean and healthful environment,
🐆 Every leopard has a unique roar apparently!
Spread this breath of fresh air🪴
By supporting Climativity, you're helping these good stories reach more people around the world.
Support good news & independent publishingThis newsletter was written by Jacob Simon. 800,000+ people are in our community replacing dread & fear with hope & action across Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and now YouTube. You can say hi on LinkedIn, or by emailing jacob@jacobsimonsays.com
Member discussion