Environment
Need some good news about the environment? The Optimist Daily is your go-to herald of positive environmental news, highlighting eco-friendly solutions and scientific progress around climate action, circularity, conservation, and more. Learn about everything eco in our Environment section.
Scientists hope wetland carbon storage experiment is everyone's cup of tea
Australian scientists have launched a project to bury tens of thousands of teabags in wetlands around the world. They are hoping others will sacrifice a few cups of tea and join in to discover how efficient different wetlands are at capturing and storing carbon dioxide. Lipton green tea and red tea Read More...
Deutsche Bank is pulling the plug on future coal investments
A report released in December 2016 said the total value of fossil fuel divestments had doubled to $5 trillion. That number is only set to rise with Deutsche Bank announcing that it will no longer invest in coal as part of its commitments under the Paris Agreement to tackle global warming. The Read More...
Marine ecosystems show resilience to climate disturbance
Climate-driven disturbances are having profound impacts on coastal ecosystems, with many crucial habitat-forming species in sharp decline. However, among these degraded biomes, examples of resilience are emerging. Writing in BioScience, Jennifer O'Leary, a California Sea Grant Marine Biologist Read More...
The eco guide to responsible travel
I love an untapped resource (as opposed to a very overstressed one). The responsible travel movement is perfect. It takes the huge global travel industry (1.2 billion people holidaying abroad in 2015) and shapes it into a force for good, rather than one that trashes local host communities, Read More...
U.K. government facing legal action over failure to fight climate change
The U.K. hasn’t even come close to their goal of cutting emissions by 57 percent by 2032, prompting environmental legal activists to get prepared for a trip to court with the government. Under the 2008 Climate Change Act, the government has a legal obligation to come up with ways to meet its Read More...
As the White House changes course on climate change, California presses forward
With cheese and shrimp cocktail piled on their plates, guests strolled the exhibit like patrons at an art gallery, sipping beer and pausing to ponder the displays that lined the room. But instead of paintings or sculptures, they were examining scientific charts about climate change at a state Read More...
California governor Brown: “California is not turning back, not now, not ever”
In his State of the State address, California Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. came out heavily against the country’s newly-elected President, Donald Trump, specifically as regards to the role California can play in combating the new President’s policies on immigration, health care, and renewable Read More...
City of London launches challenge to boost coffee cup recycling
A scheme to boost disposable coffee cup recycling has been launched in the City of London in an attempt to prevent 5m cups a year from the Square Mile ending up in landfill. The City of London Corporation, in conjunction with Network Rail, coffee chains and some employers, are introducing dedicated Read More...
Boring: Elon Musk wants to dig a tunnel under Los Angeles to solve traffic mess
Stuck in notoriously bad Los Angeles traffic in December last year, Elon Musk tweeted that it was time to start digging tunnels under the city. What began as a joke, is now becoming a serious plan. Musk even has a name for his new tunnel company: Boring. Musk is a big fan of tunnels and even Read More...
Detroit saves emissions and money with change to LED street lights
Just three years ago, Detroit’s 139 square miles were lit only sporadically; around half of the 88,000 old streetlights were dysfunctional, their wiring decades old. In 2014 the city started a $185 million project to switch on 65,000 new LED street lights. The project was completed a month ago. Read More...