Happy Eco News: Six Decades of Charles River Restoration and Climate Resilience Turned “Dirty Water” into America’s Cleanest Urban River
The Charles River earned its unflattering nickname “Dirty Water” honestly. Decades of industrial pollution, raw sewage, trash, and even discarded cars fouled the 80-mile river flowing from Hopkinton through 23 Massachusetts communities to Boston Harbor. When a group of concerned citizens founded the Charles River Watershed Association…
Inside Climate News: 21 States Sue EPA to Reinstate Climate Pollution Rules for Power Plants
Twenty-one states, including North Carolina, New York, California and Pennsylvania, as well as several cities, are suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its repeal of most greenhouse gas emissions standards for coal- and natural gas-fired power plants. The agency’s proposal would also thwart future administrations from reinstating the rule.
Trust For Public Land: A Historic Tribal Land Returned
When 31,367 acre of land in the Katahdin region became available for sale, The Trust for Public Land acted quickly to become a temporary owner. Our goal was to partner with the Penobscot Nation to reconnect Wáhsehtəkʷ to the Tribe while creating much-needed southern access to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, in Maine
Canary Media: This available device could free up gigawatts of power for the US grid
Gigawatts of power are already available for the taking across the U.S. economy in the form of wasted energy from an unexpected source: motors. Some 50 million electric motors… (often) use far more energy than they actually need to keep America’s machines humming. Companies can install devices known as variable frequency drives, or VFDs, to make motors run super efficiently.
Bike Santa Cruz County: Biketober!
Join Biketober 2026 — a free, fun challenge to get you riding, connecting with your community, and taking action for climate. Read on for information about prizes and neighborhood events and resources focused on learning, moving, and connecting with bikes! Link HERE.
Vote Solar: The California Clean Local Power Act Passes!
Gov. Newsom has signed two major clean energy bills into law, which will help to lower energy bills, improve the strength and resilience of our energy grid, and make renewable energy more accessible than ever before. One of these is the Clean Local Power Act SB 913 which will now allow local energy resources…
Center For Biological Diversity: Injunction Stops Border Construction in Big Bend Region
Oct 2 - Today a federal judge granted our request for an emergency injunction, stopping destructive border construction across the Big Bend region while our lawsuit moves forward. The bulldozers have been stopped.
KQED: A Perfect Storm: Waves and Tides Could Flood Bay Area Shorelines This Week
El Niño is marked by warming in the Pacific Ocean’s surface layer, and Kelvin waves are the delivery system for warm water associated with El Niño. As tropical trade winds slow or reverse, ocean water slowly sloshes east, eventually smacking into South America and moving north and south. That deep ocean wave, moving ….
Amah Mutsun Land Trust: California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Threatened
CA Prop 45 is a measure on the November 2026 ballot that would dramatically overhaul the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in a manner favorable to developers and real estate interests for a wide array of projects broadly deemed “essential.” Critically, Prop 45 would eliminate non-federally recognized California tribes
Surfrider: Governor Newsom Signs Legislation to Strengthen Protections Against New Offshore Drilling
Governor Gavin Newsom has signed AB 1448 (Hart), the California Coastal Protection Act, into law. This legislation closes a loophole in state law that could have allowed existing oil and gas infrastructure in state waters to support new drilling in federal waters off California’s coast. This victory comes at an important time…
Canary Media: A recent legal victory could free $7B in frozen Solar for All funds
Zeldin claimed that the megabill passed by Republicans in Congress in July 2025 allowed the EPA to cancel Solar for All. But in last week’s order, U.S. District Judge Mary S. McElroy rebuffed that claim. “Congress’s clear intent was that EPA continue to administer the already obligated SFA grants,” she wrote…
Anthropocene Magazine: What happens to the world’s farms if everyone eats less meat?
Researchers ran the numbers on a worldwide sustainable-diet transition—and found a food system that looks nothing like today’s. The team modeled what would happen if the world actually switched to sustainable diets, rather than sticking with business as usual. The results are dramatic
Optimist Daily: Colombia’s outgoing president protected 42% of the country’s Amazon from mining
On August 4, three days before he left office, Colombian President Gustavo Petro signed a resolution placing 186,500 square miles of the Amazon off-limits to any new extraction. That means no new mining concessions, no new oil or gas contracts, and no environmental permits that would make either possible
NYT: A California law coming into force could change fashion
California is trying to become the first state to make fashion brands, manufacturers and retailers pick up the tab for textile waste, and the details of the plan are taking shape now. If it works, the transformation could be enormous: California residents discarded nearly 1.2 million tons of textiles in 2021 alone
Climate Action Now: Scientific expedition has discovered 149 new species in the deep-sea abyssal sea floor
A recent CSIRO ocean-going scientific expedition has discovered 149 new species in the deep-sea abyssal floor and shallow seamounts of the waters around the Christmas and Cocos islands, remote Australian possessions in the Indian Ocean. The new 149 included decapods (crabs, shrimps, kin) fishes, ophiuroids (brittle stars), barnacles, sea cucumbers,…
Guardian: Datacenter rush will create ‘tsunami’ of discarded electronics
The electronic trash AI generates in the next 25 years could fill enough shipping containers to encircle the globe six times, it said. Yet, says the report by the non-profit environmental group Basel Action Network (BAN), there is no plan to deal with that waste…
Canary Media: California moves to cut red tape for heat pumps, solar, and more
Late last month, the state Legislature passed two first-in-the-nation bills that would streamline permitting and inspections for these clean energy home projects. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign the bills, the Heat Pump Access Act (Senate Bill 222) and the Remote Virtual Inspection Act (Assembly Bill 1738)
Heatmap: Federal court rejects Trump’s emergency order to keep Michigan coal plant open
…On Sept 11, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Trump administration’s use of emergency powers to force the plant to stay open. The court found that the Department of Energy illegally invoked Section 202(c), the emergency authority of the Federal Power Act, to override the long-term planning process
Happy Eco News: EU Cage-Free Farming Legislation Moves Closer to Reality
In a major step forward this year, The European Commission released its long-awaited Livestock Strategy, laying out plans to end cage confinement for over 300 million hens and pigs. This move follows years of public pressure and scientific review.,,
Scientific American: Gray whales are washing up dead on the West Coast. The reason is alarming.
Sept 9 - As of mid-August, 187 gray whales have been found dead this year along the West Coast, from Mexico to Alaska. Scientists have scrambled to investigate, hoping to prevent further deaths in a species that has been in decline for years—gray whales lost 35 percent of their population between 2020 and 2025