Climate Action
What is Climate Action? Climate Action is humanity's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance our planet's resilience against climate change. From adaptation to mitigation, at The Optimist Daily you will learn about the most recent positive news stories and solutions targeting climate change and other environmental issues.
Washington DC proposes charging higher fees for bigger trucks
Large pickup trucks’ popularity keeps growing in the United States and not just for hauling. Bigger and bulkier trucks are often used as normal cars, even new heavy-duty models like the Ford F-250 which gets 15 miles per gallon and is almost two feet taller than an average sedan. Not only do Read More...
San Francisco BART wants to get riders back with short stories
Many of us have whiled away the minutes on a bus or a train with a book. Now the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, the public transportation authority of San Francisco, is looking to attract riders back to public transportation by distributing short stories at select stations. The BART will Read More...
US injects 3.5 billion into carbon removal technologies
The US has ambitious goals to reach and maintain a net-zero economy by 2050. To get the nation closer to this objective, the US Department of Energy (DOE) is accelerating its Carbon Negative Shot initiative to facilitate the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while also driving down the Read More...
Pennsylvania schools doubled their solar power in the last two years
Renewable energy production is taking off in the Keystone State. A new report from the nonprofit Generation180 reveals that Pennsylvania schools doubled their solar power capacity over the last two years of the Pandemic. This helped not only the planet but also the schools' bottom line and Read More...
Germany slashes public transportation costs to reduce fossil fuel dependence
In the energy standoff between Europe and Russia, Germany has taken many measures to accelerate the phasing out of oil and gas. It has resolved to make energy cheaper for homes and businesses. It has pushed plans to put solar panels on every public building by 2025. Now, Germany has cut train, Read More...
Seven tips for cooling your home without AC
Many of us can already feel the heated start of Summer, along with the urge to crank up the air-conditioning. While heatstroke is a serious health concern, a whole city blasting cool air into their homes presents a threat to the power grid. Some places like Texas are already experiencing Read More...
Mining companies decide against mining Brazil’s Indigenous areas
An important part of the growing movement for the rights of nature is empowering indigenous peoples to steward their lands. Indigenous forests sequester twice as much carbon as those on private or public lands, and these often have the highest levels of biodiversity. The trend now includes 130 Read More...
Flow batteries could help with renewable energy storage
The generation of renewable energy from sources like wind and solar is one thing, but there are many other factors to consider when delivering renewable energy to consumers. A big one is the issue of storage. One Oregon startup, ESS Tech Inc. is fixing this problem with its flow Read More...
OnePower: bringing minigrids and power to Lesotho
A key aspect of helping the developing world is not only ensuring that they have sufficient power and infrastructure to run key facilities like schools and hospitals. It is also important to ensure that their energy infrastructure is resilient and, hopefully, runs on renewable energy. This is Read More...
How a century-old cargo schooner is bringing back emissions-free shipping
The shipping industry is responsible for 2.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — putting about 940 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere every year. Before 1960, however, when containerization started to take off, cargo schooners were transporting goods around the world Read More...