Every day the Good Good Good team collects the best good news in the world and shares it with our community. Here are the highlights for this week!
If you want to get good news in your inbox every day, join the Goodnewsletter — the free daily newsletter designed to leave you feeling hopeful.
The Best Positive News We’re Celebrating This Week —
Ending the country’s 140-year reliance on coal, the last coal plant in the UK is set to close today
After receiving its final delivery of coal earlier this summer, the last coal power plant in the UK is scheduled to close its doors today – making it the first G7 country to remove coal from its grid entirely.
The closure of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station marks the end of a 142-year history of coal in the country – with its first coal-fired power plant opening in 1882. The UK’s transition away from the dirty fuel source has been rapid thanks to the growth of renewables as well as natural gas.
The site will be transformed into a zero-carbon technology and energy hub once it’s decommissioned. It’s a major step as the UK government ends coal generation by 2024.
→ Read more
More good climate news:
- An Australian Aboriginal woman fought a coal mine that would have destroyed a nature refuge and emitted 1.58 billion tons of carbon dioxide… and she won.
- Following a K-pop protest over climate concerns, Hyundai ended its aluminum deal with a company whose coal plants would emit 5.2 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year.
- Thanks to their “imaginative” nonviolent action, climate activists brought about the “end of coal” in New England, when a power company announced it would voluntarily stop burning coal.
A new report found that the Global Fund partnership has saved 65 million lives since 2002
After a “significant year” of progress in the fight against AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria, newly released data found that the Global Fund partnership has saved 65 million lives and reduced the combined death rate by 61% since 2002.
In 2023 alone, 25 million people were on antiretroviral therapy for HIV, 7.1 million people were treated for TB, and 227 million mosquito nets were distributed globally.
In countries where the Global Fund works, AIDS-related deaths have decreased by 73% since 2002 and new infections have reduced by 61%. At the end of last year, 84% of people living with HIV knew their status. There’s also notably been a reduced HIV incidence in girls and young women.
Last year, more people with TB were found and treated than ever before. And the Global Fund dramatically improved access to life-saving tools to prevent and treat malaria.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, a national helpline is providing free disaster crisis counseling to those in need
As communities across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee reel from the devastation of Hurricane Helene, federal agencies, aid organizations, and everyday volunteers have stepped up to help provide urgent relief.
But with unfathomable loss — including a rising death toll — rebuilding also includes confronting the toll these disasters take on survivors’ mental health.
It’s why the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration created the Disaster Distress Helpline — the first national hotline dedicated to providing free disaster crisis counseling 24/7 in more than 100 languages.
Why is this good news? As SAMHSA explains, it’s normal for people to experience feelings like “overwhelming anxiety, constant worrying, trouble sleeping, and other depression-like symptoms” before, during, and after hurricanes. And people should never be left to navigate those feelings on their own.
From his early climate action to near-eradication of Guinea worm disease, Jimmy Carter has had a remarkable impact on the world
Today is President Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday. Carter is one of the most remarkable and impactful leaders of the last 50 years of American history — both in and out of office.
While his time in the White House was short-lived, he made an impact with his early adoption of climate action and profound focus on human rights in foreign policy. Carter was also the only modern U.S. president who didn’t wage war.
After losing re-election, Carter graciously accepted defeat and quickly got to work establishing The Carter Center, a nonprofit organization with the mission to wage peace, fight disease, and build hope.
Perhaps most notably, under his watch, Guinea worm disease has dropped from 3.5 million annual cases to only 15 total cases in 2021 — and we’ve seen significant progress in the fight against other potentially eradicable diseases like mumps, rubella, lymphatic filariasis, poliomyelitis, and cysticercosis.
Colorado is launching a first-of-its-kind methane monitoring program at its 80 landfills
As part of a large-scale initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Colorado is implementing cutting-edge technologies to monitor methane emissions at its 80 landfills across the state.
With the help of a $129 million grant, the program is the first of its kind and could help set a new standard for other states.
The state has already been using the technologies — which include drones, aircraft, and satellites — to help it spot leaks in oil and gas infrastructure, too.
Why is this good news? Methane traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide over 20 years — and landfills are the third-largest source of methane. While there are caps on emissions from landfills, it’s largely based on an honor system — an analysis found that 90% of landfills across eight states had at least one violation of those caps.
→ Read more
Volunteer pilots with the Port City Aviators Flying Club are collecting and flying supplies to Hurricane Helene victims
After hearing about the devastating impact Hurricane Helene had in western North Carolina, a local group of pilots came together to help.
Volunteers with the Port City Aviators Flying Club set up to accept donations starting at 9:30 in the morning and within an hour, cars were lined up to drop off essential items like food, water, and pet supplies.
They received ten times more than they were expecting and then flew them to Asheville over several trips. With more supplies continuing to be donated, the pilots planned to keep making trips.
Knowing that so many roads are impassable, the pilots knew they had a unique opportunity to bring much-needed supplies into the area by air — and took swift action to make it happen.
After over a decade of work, a project to protect both a New York City coastline and marine life is now complete
In response to Hurricane-turned-Superstorm Sandy that made landfall in New Jersey in 2012, neighboring New York got to work on a climate resiliency project to protect both its coastline and marine ecosystems.
Now officially complete after a decade of work, the Living Breakwaters will protect the Staten Island shoreline, homes, and businesses from future extreme weather events.
Eight partially submerged structures will break up storm waves, decrease erosion, and serve as critical habitats for marine life. It’s also part of the state’s larger climate resiliency efforts.
→ Read more
More good climate change mitigation and resiliency news:
- Biochar is a carbon-rich material made from organic waste that is used to help plants grow — and it has huge potential for mitigating climate change.
- U.S. national parks have earmarked $21.6 million for projects dedicated to helping make places of cultural importance more resilient to climate change.
- To help combat extreme heat and record-high temperatures, Los Angeles is painting streets with a special reflective coating that sends heat back up into space.
After Helene left manatees stranded, rescue crews quickly jumped in to save them
When Hurricane Helene tore through the southeast, it left a 500-mile path of devastation in its wake — including from a 15-foot storm surge in Florida.
That impacted the state’s beloved “sea cows,” leaving countless manatees stranded throughout the state in city streets, fields, and ponds.
Biologists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission immediately jumped into action to save them. In one instance, rescuers lifted a 1,000-pound manatee off the MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.
Manatees are listed as a threatened species in Florida. And while it may take months — or years — to restore the waterways that manatees call home back to what they once were before Helene, the quick work from these rescue teams is helping to first keep them alive.
→ Read more
A new California law stops public libraries from banning books based on their “views, ideas, or opinions”
Amidst an increase in book bans around the country, California is setting a new standard at its public libraries.
Under the newly signed law, libraries must ensure “diverse points of view” in their book collection and include a “range of social, political, aesthetic, moral, and other ideas and experiences.”
By law, libraries cannot exclude or limit access to materials based on “the race, nationality, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability, political affiliation, or any other characteristic… or the socioeconomic status” of a subject, author, source or perceived or intended audience.
Why is this good news? From July 2021 to the end of the 2023 school year, PEN America recorded nearly 10,000 instances of book bans across the U.S. — 37% directly addressed issues of race and racism, while 36% included LGBTQ+ characters or themes. Book bans erase history and silence those most underrepresented in literature.
Heidi Klum is supporting the return of UNICEF’s “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF” program in its 75th year
Heidi Klum is well-known for her blowout Halloween parties, which she has hosted since 2000. The “Queen of Halloween” has a new cause she’s championing this year, and it comes in a “little orange box.”
The box is a 75-year-old tradition for UNICEF, which encourages people to “Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF,” going door-to-door soliciting donations with the organization’s signature orange collection boxes.
Klum has long been an ambassador for the organization and also acted as spokesperson for the Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF program in 2011.
And with Klum’s support, the organization hopes to build on the annual campaign’s nearly $200 million fundraising total as “the longest running youth engagement campaign in the United States.”
→ Read more
More good news of the week —
For the fourth year in a row, a resort near Yosemite gave free spa treatments to volunteers who collect trash in the park. Last year, the Rush Creek Lodge & Spa saw 55 volunteers who collected 899 pounds of trash in Groveland, a town close to the northwest entrance of Yosemite.
The U.S. government is giving West Coast states $100 million to create a zero-emission truck fueling network. Oregon, Washington, and California are aiming to build at least 34 medium and heavy-duty electric vehicle charging stations and five hydrogen fueling stations primarily along 1,400 miles of I-5.
London Marathon runners raised a world record £73.5 million for charity at this year’s race. They surpassed the previous world record of £66.4 million set in 2019 and brought the cumulative total raised to more than £1.3 billion since the first event in 1981.
Improving air quality, cutting emissions, and reducing road casualties, city centers are using cargo bikes instead of vans to transport goods. Currently, 90% of all goods in London are transported by road, replacing them with cargo bikes would remove 30,000 metric tons of carbon emissions annually.
To protect beachgoers and aid conservation efforts, scientists are using drones to track and study white sharks. Their goal is to develop forecasting tools that can help predict what times of year, what times of day, or what ocean conditions are likely to be more or less sharky.
After clearing around 30,000 tests, Washington state’s crime lab says its rape kit backlog is “essentially eliminated.” One survivor said the moment is meaningful, and that getting kits tested and cases prosecuted makes the entire community safer.
To honor Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday, Habitat for Humanity volunteers are building 30 new homes this week. The Carters have worked with the organization for 40 years, building homes around the country every year.
With poaching down 86%, an Indian state’s one-horned rhino population has grown from 600 to 3,000 since 2016. Assam attributes its success to various conservation initiatives — but despite this progress, the rhinos still remain vulnerable due to poaching and habitat loss.
For the first time in history, a woman’s diabetes was reversed using a stem cell transplant. A 25-year-old woman in China with type 1 diabetes started producing her own insulin less than three months after receiving a transplant of reprogrammed stem cells.
Experts say the supply of deadly fentanyl is drying up in many parts of the U.S. and fatal overdoses are dropping. There was a sudden national decline in fentanyl-related deaths last year, dropping by 10% — and it’s falling even faster in places like Ohio, by around one-third so far this year.
Amtrak train options will now show up when customers use Google to search for flights. It’s part of a new integration to support more sustainable travel and will pull up-to-date Amtrak data so people can easily compare departure times, trip lengths, and fares.
Helping counter a rise in diabetes, researchers developed a “healthier” rice with a lower glycaemic index and more protein. Research shows a link between substantial consumption of rice and non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease, and this new grain “could have a big impact in Asia and Africa.”
The World Health Organization just confirmed the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem in Pakistan. Trachoma is a disease caused by infection by the Chlamydia trachomatis bacterium and can result in irreversible blindness if left untreated.
The Sports Bra and an LA women’s soccer club just partnered to create a streaming channel designed for sports bars. The app will broadcast United City FC Women's games live and be tested at Sports Bra locations in Spring 2025 and is designed to maximize the sports bar viewing experience.
Scientists are using tiny “backpacks” on turtle hatchlings to observe their movements between hatching and emerging above the sand. Their findings have important implications for conserving a declining turtle population globally.
