Good Governance
What does good governance look like? In this good news section, we share international examples of good governance, from efforts directed at the protection of civil rights to initiatives aimed at the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of the environment.
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...
EPA moves to permanently protect Bristol Bay from mining operations
Alaska’s Bristol Bay is a rich fishing area home to 46 percent of the average global abundance of wild sockeye salmon. Following two decades of back and forth between the Pebble Limited Partnership, conservation groups, Tribes, and state and federal governments, the Environmental Protection Read More...
The Optimist View: The Green Divide
"Neither cities nor places in them are unordered, unplanned; the question is only whose order, whose planning, for what purpose?” - Peter Marcuse BY Amelia Buckley If you stand outside in the heat of summer, you’ll notice that things are considerably less comfortable on concrete or Read More...
San Francisco schools successfully reopen for all students
The continued latest Covid-19 surge has made for a rocky and uncertain back-to-school season, but the San Francisco Department of Public Health is celebrating the first weeks of school with no Covid-19 outbreaks since students returned to classrooms on August 16. An outbreak is defined by the Read More...
New California bill aims to bring reality to recycling logos
If you look around at just about everything made of plastic in your home, as well as most paper products and anything that contains just about anything, the odds are you’ll see that ubiquitous three arrow triangle on the item’s label or embossed somewhere. Now, many of us think this is just a Read More...
France makes birth control free for everyone under 25
Lack of affordability is one of the biggest barriers for women when it comes to accessing contraceptives. To address this, the French government has announced it will make birth control free and available to all women under 25. The country already makes birth control free to everyone under 18, Read More...
Mexico’s Supreme Court rules to decriminalize abortion
Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled this week that criminalizing abortion is illegal. This landmark unanimous decision comes after years of advocacy from women’s rights groups who have fought to legalize abortion in the largely Catholic country. Although the decision does not automatically make Read More...
This new approach to parole helps reduce recidivism
Recidivism is a term that describes the tendency of previously incarcerated individuals to become reincarcerated一and it’s a huge problem in the US. America’s justice system is notoriously problematic, with criticisms ranging from a fundamental disagreement on what should be illegal to how Read More...
Costa Rica isn’t letting Covid stand in the way of sustainable progress
One small Central American country is making big moves when it comes to combating climate change. Famous for its environmental policy, Costa Rica is making headway against the destruction of its fragile habitats even in the face of budget cuts and setbacks due to the pandemic. Costa Rica is Read More...
Robert E. Lee statue set to be removed from Richmond, VA
A colossal 21 foot tall Robert E. Lee statue has been removed from Virginia's capital, state officials said on Wednesday. The statue stood for over 130 years as a monument to the Confederacy. "Virginia's largest monument to the Confederate insurrection will come down this week," Governor Ralph Read More...