Extra! Extra! 9/17 🎈🎈🎈
Hi all, and happy Sunday!
Here’s your weekly dose of excellent news and surprise victories! As always, there are probably a few more than you expected.
Remember, you can take some credit for all the good stuff that’s happening—it’s pressure from regular folks like you that’s helping to bring about the wins we’re seeing.
So yes, things are bad, but they’re also good. Bearing that in mind, focussing on it, celebrating it, is how we fortify and cheer ourselves for the trials ahead. Remember, what we focus on grows! So let’s make sure to dwell on the triumphs as much as we do the setbacks.
Thanks for all you do! And don’t forget to spread the good news!
Jess
P.S. If you enjoyed this newsletter and want to support my work please consider upgrading to a paid subscription if you can (and haven’t already). Thank you!
Read This 📖
Maybe Joe Biden is Too Young! I like this perspective better.
Celebrate This! 🎉
The head of the Spanish soccer federation, Luis Rubiales, resigned, weeks after kissing a member of Spain’s team on the lips without her consent.
Tesla will install up to 20,000 versatile EV chargers at Hilton hotel locations.
California just became the first state to declare an official Transgender History Month.
A federal court denied Alabama Republicans' request to pause a decision striking down their new congressional map as the state pursues an appeal of the decision, writing that Alabama "is likely to lose on appeal."
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper appointed Judge Allison Riggs, a staunch advocate of voting rights, to a vacancy on the North Carolina Supreme Court.
Free Speech For People filed a petition before the Minnesota Supreme Court challenging Donald Trump’s eligibility to appear on the state’s presidential primary ballot in 2024.
The Federal Reserve has its first Latina governor in its century-long history, economist Adriana Kugler.
China's Trina Solar said it will invest more than $200 million to build a solar photovoltaic manufacturing facility in Texas.
New York University announced it would divest from fossil fuels, following years of pressure from student activists. The move from one of the US’s largest private universities, whose endowment totals over $5B, represents a significant win for the climate movement.
The Justice Department filed federal criminal charges against five former Memphis police officers, accusing them of violating the civil rights of Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died after being severely beaten during a traffic stop in January.
The Center for Reproductive Rights filed legal actions in Tennessee, Idaho and Oklahoma on behalf of women who say they were denied abortion care in medical emergencies.
Chinese oil giant Sinopec made a surprise announcement that mostly flew under the radar: it’s now expecting gasoline demand in China to peak this year, two years earlier than its previous outlooks.
A new report on U.S. clean energy investment trends found that $213 billion was invested in manufacturing and installing clean energy hardware in the first 6 months of 2023. That’s 37% more than the previous 12-month period, and more than the annual GDP of 18 U.S. states, making clean energy one of the country’s biggest industries.
China’s solar sector is set to break records in the coming years. New capacity in 2023 is expected to top 150 GW, almost doubling the 87 GW installed in 2022.
Companies with higher ESG ratings tend to outperform their lower-rated peers over the long run, according to a new analysis from the risk advisory firm Kroll. Overall, returns for companies with high ESG scores were about 4 percentage points higher than those with the lowest.
After being hunted and harassed for hundreds of years, the North American beaver is making a comeback in California, and its resurgence could help fight certain effects of climate change.
New research shows heat pumps are twice as effective as fossil fuel heating systems in cold weather conditions. The research dispels misinformation about how more environmentally conscious heat pumps perform in below-zero temperatures.
Australia's most populous state just announced a logging ban to protect koalas from being wiped out. The New South Wales government stopped all logging operations in 21,000 acres of forest that are home to 106 “koala hubs.”
New York City’s pension funds sued Fox, saying that by broadcasting falsehoods about the 2020 election and risking lawsuits, it neglected its duty to shareholders.
Green sea turtles, which almost went extinct, are now thriving in the San Gabriel River.
The new 1% stock buyback tax, enacted by President Biden and congressional Democrats as part of 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), has already raised $3.5 billion in new revenue just in the first half of 2023.
Planned Parenthood plans to resume offering abortions in Wisconsin next week.
Hundreds of climate protesters temporarily shut down the entrances to Citigroup's Tribeca headquarters Thursday morning to protest their funding of fossil fuels.
President Biden announced new actions federal agencies are taking to advance the mission of the White House Cancer Moonshot, as well as new commitments the Biden-Harris Administration has secured from non-governmental organizations and the private sector to deliver progress on the mission to end cancer as we know it.
President Biden has reversed a Trump-era amendment to hazardous materials regulations that allowed liquified natural gas to be transported by rail. THIS IS HUGE!
Google will start requiring election advertisers to disclose when an ad contains synthetic or altered content.
In excellent news for the federal budget, spending per Medicare beneficiary has nearly leveled off over more than a decade.
The IRS announced on Friday it is launching an effort to aggressively pursue 1,600 millionaires and 75 large business partnerships that owe hundreds of millions of dollars in past due taxes.
Illinois has become the first state to get rid of cash bail.
A federal judge Friday ordered Louisiana prison officials to stop housing youth offenders in the former death row of Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola and to relocate them within one week.
The world’s largest wind turbine just broke the record for most energy produced in a single day. The Goldwind GWH252-16MW off the coast of China produced 384.1 megawatt hours, enough to power roughly 170,000 homes, 38 million LEDs, or 2.2 million kilometers driven in an electric car.
The California legislature passed a resolution, to be sent to President Biden, opposing the corporate profiteering of Medicare.
The board that administers the Pulitzer Prizes announced that it would expand eligibility for the awards to authors, playwrights and composers who are not U.S. citizens.
The state of California announced it is suing several of the world’s biggest oil companies, claiming their actions have caused tens of billions of dollars in damage and that they deceived the public by downplaying the risks posed by fossil fuels. According to the Union For Concerned Scientists this “marks the most significant climate suit brought against the industry so far.” Go CA!
In a win for voters, a federal judge struck down parts of Arizona voter suppression law House Bill 2492 that created strict proof of citizenship requirements to vote.
In Wisconsin, Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit to block an attempt by Republicans in the state Senate to remove the state’s nonpartisan top election official.
Hundreds of communities around the country will share more than $1 billion in federal money to help them plant and maintain trees under a federal program that is intended to reduce extreme heat, benefit health and improve access to nature.
The EPA announced more than $100 million from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda to expand recycling infrastructure and waste management systems across the country, representing EPA’s largest recycling investment in 30 years.
The DOE released a new interactive map series showcasing, in localized detail, where clean energy investments are occurring across the United States. Explore DOE’S interactive map here.
Thanks to funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, dams and locks on the Ohio River are getting an upgrade.
For the first time in US history, UAW members at the Big Three automakers are on strike at the same time.
But it’s not just the UAW! Marvel’s visual effects team voted to unionize. And Dartmouth College basketball players filed a petition to unionize with the National Labor Relations Board, too!
Six young people are preparing to appear at the European court of human rights to try to compel 32 nations to rapidly escalate their emissions reductions in the world’s largest climate legal action to date.
Nashville voted to send Freddie O'Connell, a proud progressive, to the mayor's office. They also voted to make Nashville’s city council majority women for the first time ever...including Olivia Hill - the first trans official ever elected in Tennessee! Meanwhile, longtime progressive activist Aftyn Behn won her race by a wide margin and is now officially going to be a state representative! 1
South Africa’s imports of solar modules from China increased by 483% in the first six months of 2023, compared to the same time last year.
In the past two weeks, the Biden Administration has announced two new slates of judicial nominations.
Judge Jeffrey Cummings was confirmed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois! Judge Cummings has extensive experience both as a magistrate judge and a litigator.
Researchers at NASA have created a high-performing battery that they believe can both hold enough electricity and discharge it fast enough to efficiently power an electric aircraft.
Scientists have also created a new battery that could allow our phones to last for nearly a decade.
New financial reports show Kentucky’s Democratic Governor Andy Beshear crushing his opponent, Republican Daniel Cameron, in fundraising, with the incumbent raising $15 million to date compared with just $2.8 million for his challenger.
In a bid to slow deforestation in the Amazon, Brazil announced that it will provide financial support to municipalities that have reduced deforestation rates the most.
Both leading candidates in Mexico’s presidential run next year will be women with pro-renewable energy stances. One is a climate scientist, and the other says she aims to end the country’s “addiction to fossil fuels.”2
U.S. Wild Atlantic salmon have had their most productive year in more than a decade. The greater survival of the salmon could be evidence that conservation measures to protect them are paying off.
A medical equipment sterilizing plant that uses a chemical whose emissions could lead to cancer and other health risks announced it plans to close its Tennessee location by next spring. Climate Action Now users helped make this happen!
An Arkansas judge dismissed a lawsuit from a "voter integrity" group seeking to ban voting machines in the state.
The Biden administration is making it easier to get federal benefits.
A California law raising the minimum wage for fast-food workers to $20 an hour is heading to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom for near-certain enactment after being passed late Thursday night by both chambers of the state legislature.
In a victory for workers—and after enormous pushback—Drew Barrymore announced that her show will NOT air during the strike.
Tens of thousands of people showed up for the March to End Fossil Fuels today in New York City—including some of my family members! The large turnout “surprised organizers.” Good.
I love your weekly list, Jessica! What is ESG? As in "Companies with higher ESG ratings...."
Oregon's terrific Senator Jeff Merkley says 'fossil gas' instead of 'natural gas.' Any chance you would use this term, too?
Jessica, I don’t care what anybody says about Gavin Newsom but he is by far, one of the most effective governors we have ever had! So important that he has filed this lawsuit against big oil as they continue to pollute our waterways and our bodies. I live in a town with a refinery in Northern CA. We have had 3 incidences already this year. I am on a committee that has formally approached the refinery, the county health department, the state and the FBI. We are being listened to. I am not one of the leads by any stretch, but participate as a very concerned citizen.