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.
Los Angeles County votes to phase out oil extraction
The Los Angeles County board of supervisors unanimously voted to prohibit new oil wells and evaluate existing ones, taking a big step towards ending oil extraction in the US’ largest county. Currently, oil wells cannot be shuttered in the county until companies recoup the costs of drilling. Read More...
Conservationists rescue Australian bandicoot from brink of extinction
For more than 30 years, Australia’s endangered Eastern Barred Bandicoot has been considered extinct in the wild. Now, following years of painstaking conservation efforts, the marsupial has become the first Australian species to have its conservation status changed. The nocturnal, rabbit-sized Read More...
Tall, bark, and handsomeーHow marriage can save a tree
We at The Optimist Daily often write about how essential trees are to our mental and physical health, as well as how they provide an important balance to planetary conditions which are too numerous to name. Trees become even more useful on all these counts as they age. The older the tree, the Read More...
Ojai school rebuilds from Thomas Fire using resilient architecture
The Thomas Fire was one of the most destructive in California history and burned a total of 281,000 acres. Among the over 1,000 structures burned by the blaze was the Upper Campus of the Ojai Valley School. In one night, the fire blazed through most of the 195-acre campus. Architect Frederick Read More...
Fusion energy could soon be commercially available thanks to MIT scientists
As shown by the most recent IPCC report, moving away from fossil fuels as fast as possible is key to preventing catastrophic consequences from climate change. According to scientists, fusion power has a huge potential to transition the world towards a cleaner and safer energy future, but so far it Read More...
Rwandan bird sanctuary nearly doubles grey crowned crane population
Four years ago, the population of grey-crowned cranes was just 487, but thanks to conservation efforts in Rwanda, that number has nearly doubled to 881. A majority of this conservation credit goes to the Umusambi Village, a Kigali-based bird sanctuary run by rescue organization Nsengimana. In Read More...
In a world-first, England will require all new homes to have EV chargers
With people’s garages increasingly housing electric cars rather than gas-powered ones, there is also a growing need for adequate charging infrastructure for these vehicles. Well aware of that, the British government has decided to introduce legislation that will require all new homes and offices Read More...
This company is on a mission to bring back the woolly mammoth
Harvard Medical School biologist George Church is most famous for inventing ways of reading and editing DNA, but these days, the scientist is on a new mission: bringing back the woolly mammoth. At the helm of a new company, Colossal, and armed with $15 million in initial funding, Church and his Read More...
These US cities are home to tree-mendous green spaces
Urban green spaces and forestry have a multitude of benefits ranging from cognitive development and mental health to decreased crime rates, lower energy costs, and cleaner air. They also offer shelter for wildlife, boosting local biodiversity. The following US cities have taken urban forestry in Read More...
Researchers propose using passenger car emissions in agriculture
The average passenger emits about five US tons of CO2 and 5,547 gallons of waste water each year, while urban farmers use almost five pounds of CO2 and six gallons of water to grow two pounds of produce. Researchers from Texas A&M University believe these two systems could be combined to Read More...