Diet, including eating less beef, dropped Americans’ carbon emissions by 9%
A decline in carbon-intensive foods like beef and orange juice has shrunk individuals’ carbon footprints between 2005 and 2014.
Citizens
This archive collects milestones and solutions-focused stories involving citizens — everyday people taking action in their communities, organizing locally, and driving change at the grassroots level. From civic participation to community-led initiatives, these stories highlight what ordinary people accomplish when they work together.
Private land gift drives vast expansion of Chile’s national parks
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet and American conservationist Kristine Tompkins on Wednesday pledged to grow Chile’s national park lands by roughly 11 million acres, an area more than four times the size of Yellowstone National Park.
A majority of Americas now oppose discriminatory transgender bathroom bills
Majorities of Americans support legal protections for lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender people, opposing laws that force transgender people to use bathrooms according to the gender on their birth certificate and that allow business owners to refuse to service to LGBT people based on religious beliefs.
Teen suicide attempts have declined since legalization of same-sex marriage
Teen suicide attempts in the U.S. declined after same-sex marriage became legal and the biggest impact was among gay, lesbian and bisexual kids, a study found.
U.S. Army halts Dakota Access Pipeline route in Standing Rock victory
At Standing Rock in December 2016, thousands of water protectors camped on the North Dakota plains erupted in cheers when the U.S. Army Corps denied the easement to drill the Dakota Access Pipeline under Lake Oahe. The pause proved temporary, but the movement brought tribal treaty rights and the phrase “water is life” into wider American conversation.
Psilocybin lifts depression and anxiety in cancer patients, trials show
Psilocybin therapy took a remarkable step forward in 2016, when two clinical trials at Johns Hopkins and NYU found that a single guided session eased depression and anxiety in roughly 80% of cancer patients, with relief lasting at least six months. The results marked psychedelic research’s careful return to mainstream science after decades of dormancy.
California voters legalize recreational cannabis with Proposition 64
California legalized recreational cannabis in November 2016, when 57% of voters approved Proposition 64 — making the nation’s largest state, and one of the world’s biggest economies, an adult-use market. The measure built on California’s 1996 medical cannabis law and helped shift legalization from fringe idea to mainstream American policy.
Oregon voters elect Kate Brown as the first openly bisexual U.S. governor
In November 2016, Oregon voters elected Kate Brown governor, making her the first openly LGBT person — and first openly bisexual person — elected governor of any U.S. state. Brown had already spent decades in Oregon politics, winning the Secretary of State race in 2008. Her victory offered lasting proof that identity alone would not disqualify a candidate at the highest levels.
Icelandic women walk off the job to protest a 14 percent pay gap
Iceland’s women walked off the job at 2:38 p.m. on October 24, 2016, the exact moment each day they effectively stopped getting paid compared to men. Thousands filled the streets of Reykjavík, echoing the legendary 1975 strike. Two years later, Iceland became the first country to legally require employers to prove equal pay.
Colorado voters approve Amendment 70, raising minimum wage to $12 an hour by 2020
Colorado’s minimum wage got a voter-approved lift in November 2016, when Amendment 70 passed with about 55 percent support. The measure raised the state’s hourly floor from $9.30 to $12 by 2020, rising 90 cents each year, and tied future increases to inflation — a quiet structural shift with real weight for low-wage workers.