The Green Light

History’s playbook for climate action The secret to social change with historian Dr. Emily Pawley

Historian @emilypawley.bsky.social shows how social movements have already transformed our world—often more than we realize. That's the good news! The not-so-good news is that progress is often messy, imperfect, and fragile.

We can’t do this alone, but history proves that we CAN do it together.

🌱💡 Turning trash into treasure Today's good climate and environment news

Wednesday's ✨ GOOD CLIMATE NEWS ✨

🚮 Capturing waste carbon
🚽 A clean(ish) pesticide
👗 How clothing rentals can conquer the market

greenlightnews.beehiiv.com/p/turning-tr...

🌱💡 The states making polluters pay Today's good climate and environment news

Today's good climate news:

💰 The US states demanding oil companies pay up
🍏 Turning cities into orchards
🏙️ Building skyscrapers from solar panels

greenlightnews.beehiiv.com/p/states-fos...

🌱💡 Young climate campaigners aren't giving up just yet Today's good climate and environment news

The biggest ever youth climate case was just denied the chance to be heard in court.

So, is it the end of the road?

Nope!!! ⬇️⬇️

greenlightnews.beehiiv.com/p/young-clim...

🌱💡 What do microbes, bison and Christians have in common? They can all fight climate change, of course

🦠 Why microbes matter
🦬 Bringing back bison
⚖️ Churches gearing up for court

And more good climate news‼️

#climatechange #climate #environment #goodclimatenews

🌱💡 Giving old buildings a second chance Today's good climate and environment news

Some positive climate stories to start the week off:

🏫 Giving old buildings a second chance
💧 Letting rivers have more room
🛢️ Making fuel from sludge

greenlightnews.beehiiv.com/p/new-old-bu...

🌱💡 Bringing crops back from the brink Today's good climate and environment news

Today's good climate news!

🧟‍♀️ The zombie plants that come back to life
♻️ Turning the tides
🧱 From CO2 to building block

greenlightnews.beehiiv.com/p/bringing-c...

🌱💡 Taking emitters to court Today's good climate and environment news

Today's good climate news:

⚖️ The case that could redefine climate justice
🏡 Our neighbours’ support for climate action is higher than we think
💨 A way to make use of CO2

greenlightnews.beehiiv.com/p/taking-emi...

🌱💡 Oysters' climate superpowers Today's good climate and environment news

Today's good climate news!

🦪 Oysters' climate superpowers
🐘 Progress on global biodiversity
🏡 How green roofs make for better cities

greenlightnews.beehiiv.com/p/oysters-su...

🌱💡 Cleaning Venice’s canals Today's good climate and environment news

Today's positive climate and environment news:

🤖 The robot cleaning Venice’s canals
🍃 Hacking photosynthesis
🐻‍❄️ The scientists tracking polar bears

#climatechange #goodclimatenews

🌱💡 Tackling agriculture's methane emissions Today's good climate and environment news

Today's good climate news:

🍚 Experimenting with sustainable rice
💉 Vaccinating cows for the planet
🌧️ Natural solutions to combat flooding

#climate #agriculture #goodclimatenews

EU plans ban on 'forever chemicals' in consumer products They are used in thousands of items, from cosmetics and non-stick pans to aircraft and wind turbines.

The EU is gearing up to ban PFAS in consumer products: www.reuters.com/business/env...

How climate-friendly waterwheels are coming around again From the Himalayas and Nepal to Northern Ireland, sustainable source of energy seems to be back in vogue

Waterwheels are making a comeback www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Fatbergs turned into perfume: Britain's new industrial revolution The UK led the way in this field of science until recently - but now other countries have overtaken. So, how can that lead be recovered?

Turning fatbergs into... perfume?

🚗 Road transport emissions could peak this year thanks to the falling price of EVs:

🌱💡 The innovations inspired by nature Today's good climate and environment news

Today's good climate news!

🍃 The innovations inspired by nature
✈️ A quick fix for aviation emissions
🍄 The fungi-fuelled battery

Find the full stories here:

Here’s How Much Cleaner Energy Could Save America, in Lives and Money Widespread adoption of heat pumps could prevent thousands of premature deaths and save billions on energy bills, according to a new analysis.

'A transition to electric appliances ... could prevent 3,400 fewer premature deaths per year, 1,300 fewer hospital visits and 220,000 fewer asthma attacks' www.nytimes.com/2024/12/10/c...

🌱💡 A battery that lasts forever Today's good climate and environment news

In today's newsletter:

💎 The diamond battery that lasts millennia
🪸 Coral reefs might be OK after all
🚽 Home-grown toilet paper

greenlightnews.beehiiv.com/p/battery-la...

🌱💡 Saving our underwater forests Today's good climate and environment news

In today's newsletter!

🌿 The quest to save seagrass
💨 Making use of methane
🥔 Engineering heat-resistant potatoes

greenlightnews.beehiiv.com/p/saving-sea...

Climate-friendly farming: Scientists find feeding grazing cattle seaweed cuts methane emissions by almost 40% Seaweed is once again showing promise for making cattle farming more sustainable. A study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, found that feeding grazing beef cattle a seaweed supple...

Feeding grazing cattle seaweed supplements reduces their methane emissions by almost 40% 🐄

‘I feel guilty and angry’: the captain turned campaigner trying to keep cruise ships at bay After spending most of his life on commercial vessels, Guillaume Picard is now fighting to keep these vast liners out of the French port of Marseille

'"I certainly feel guilty," he says. “It’s guilt for having participated in the destruction of life. But maybe that is the engine that makes me an activist now."'

Cop29: which climate finance ideas are most likely to work? With $1tn a year needed, we analyse how best to fill the gap, from wealth taxes to levies on flying and oil extraction

Which climate finance ideas are actually fair, realistic, and impactful?

Donald Trump can’t stop global climate action. If we stick together, it’s the US that will lose out | Bill Hare How damaging this presidency is to the planet depends very much on how other countries react. There’s no time to waste

Global climate action will continue despite Trump. 'If countries stick together and, as they should, deepen their commitments aligning with the Paris agreement’s 1.5C limit, the damage will be significant but not severe’:

Returning Grazing Land to Native Forests Would Yield Big Climate Benefits - Inside Climate News Removing cattle from carbon-rich soils in the eastern U.S. and western Europe while intensifying production elsewhere could drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, with little hit to global protein ...

Reducing livestock production by 13% in some pastures could remove an amount of carbon equivalent to global fossil fuel emissions over the last three years:

insideclimatenews.org/news/0411202...

🌱💡 The tropical forests ready to regrow Today's good climate and environment news

Today's good news:

🚲 Individual climate action matters more than you might think

🌳 An area of degraded tropical forest bigger than Mexico is ready to naturally regrow

🚰 A new emission-free way of watering young trees

Read all the stories here:

greenlightnews.beehiiv.com/p/the-tropic...

🌱💡The microbe that gets plump on carbon Today's good climate and environment news

Today's good climate & environment news:

🧪 The chonky algae that chows down on carbon

🐀 How rats can sniff out the illegal wildlife trade

🛣️ Why helping chickens cross the road matters

Read the full stories here:

🌱💡China's emissions may have peaked Today's good climate news

Today's good climate news:

🇨🇳 China's emissions may have peaked

🥩 Researchers have developed a better way of making a key ingredient in cultivated meat

🐅 Slowly but surely, progress is being made towards protecting the world's biodiversity

Read more here:

🌱💡China's emissions may have peaked Today's good climate news

Today's good climate news:

🇨🇳 China's emissions may have peaked

🥩 Researchers have developed a better way of making a key ingredient in cultivated meat

🐅 Slowly but surely, progress is being made towards protecting the world's biodiversity

Read more here:

🌱💡Today's good climate news No doom, or naive hope—just stories of progress.

Today's good climate news!

1. Commonwealth leaders reached an agreement around ocean protection.

2. New insights into how crushed rocks can be used to absorb carbon from the atmosphere.

3. Pressure is mounting to put a luxury tax on the biggest carbon emitters: billionaires.

Read more here: