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Thailand makes hormone therapy free for trans people

By / / Good news links

Just days after marriage equality became the law in Thailand, the country’s national health ministry added hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to the free health services available to citizens. The Public Health Ministry allocated 145 million baht to the National Health Security Office for HRT. The targeted funds will cover the HRT needs of 200,000 transgender Thais. Until now, self-funding for HRT has prevented some trans individuals from gaining access to proper care, leading to health risks if they resorted to purchasing and using hormones without medical supervision.

A heat pump unit on a home exterior, representing U.S. heat pump sales growth supported by the Kigali Amendment

Heat pumps outsell gas furnaces in the U.S. for the second year running

By / / Good News For Humankind

Heat pump sales have now surpassed gas furnace shipments in the United States for two consecutive years, with more than 4 million units sold in 2023 alone — a milestone that is beginning to look like a permanent market shift. Driven by federal tax credits under the Inflation Reduction Act and additional state-level rebates, Americans are increasingly choosing electric heating over fossil fuels. This matters because home heating accounts for roughly 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, and unlike gas furnaces, heat pumps grow cleaner automatically as the electrical grid adds more renewable energy. The two-year streak signals that economics, policy, and technology have aligned in ways that rarely reverse.

Karla Sofia Gascón at 2024 Cannes Film Festival

Karla Sofía Gascón just became the first out trans actor to score an Oscar nomination

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has made history by announcing that Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón has been nominated for an Oscar for her lead performance in Emilia Pérez. Gascón, who starred in the Spanish language musical as a Mexican drug lord who begins a new life after coming out as trans, is the first openly transgender performer ever to receive an acting nomination in the Academy’s 95-year history.

New York

New York City to get a $3 billion, 80,000-acre offshore wind farm

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New York City will soon be getting its own personal offshore wind farm. The Empire Wind 1 project just received a US$3 billion project financing package and is expected to go online in 2027, powering roughly half a million borough residents. A turbine-laden 80,000-acre plot of Atlantic Ocean – which is nearly half the size of NYC – could generate 810 MW if running efficiently at its designed capacity. That is around 3.19 TWh per year or roughly 6% of NYC’s overall consumption. Empire Wind 1 will be the first offshore wind project to connect directly to NYC’s electrical grid.

American money

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalizes rule banning inclusion of medical debt on credit reports

By / / Good news links

Americans’ unpaid medical bills will no longer appear on credit reports, where they can block people from mortgages, car loans, or small business loans, according to a final rule announced by the Biden administration. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule will remove $49 billion in medical debt from the credit reports of more than 15 million Americans, which means lenders will no longer be able to take that into consideration when deciding to issue a loan. The change is estimated to raise the credit scores by an average of 20 points.

Offshore oil rig at sunset

Biden permanently bans offshore drilling in 625 million acres of ocean

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President Biden has announced an executive action that will permanently ban future offshore oil and gas development in parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in a way that could be especially difficult for the incoming Trump administration to undo. The ban will prevent oil companies from leasing waters for new drilling along the entire East Coast; the eastern Gulf of Mexico; the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California; and portions of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea.

Power plant polluting

New York to fine fossil fuel companies $75 billion under new climate law

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New York state will fine fossil fuel companies a total of $75 billion over the next 25 years to pay for damage caused to the climate under a bill Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law at the end of 2024.
New York state will fine fossil fuel companies $75 billion over the next 25 years to pay for damage caused to the climate. The new law is intended to shift some of the recovery and adaptation costs of climate change from individual taxpayers to oil, gas, and coal companies. The money raised will be spent on mitigating the impacts of climate change, including adapting roads, transit, water and sewage systems, buildings and other infrastructure. Fossil fuel companies will be fined based on the amount of greenhouse gases they emitted between 2000 and 2018.

Depiction of intestines

“100% successful” cancer drug gets landmark U.S. FDA approval

By / / Good news links

Hugely promising cancer drug dostarlimab is one step closer to being widely available, after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted it Breakthrough Therapy Designation status. The drug, a programmed death receptor-1-blocking antibody, completely eradicated rectal cancer tumors without the need for surgery, radiation treatment, or chemotherapy. “Everyone on the clinical trial is doing great,” Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center gastrointestinal oncologist Andrea Cercek said. “So far, 42 people have completed treatment, and all of them have no evidence of disease. Side effects were quite mild and well tolerated.”

Aerial view of river

250 miles of New Mexico’s rivers get toughest safeguards against pollution

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In a unanimous decision, New Mexico’s Water Quality Control Commission has voted to protect 250 miles of stream and river segments with the state’s highest water quality safeguards. This historic decision recognizes stretches of the Rio Grande, Rio Chama, Cimarron, Pecos, and Jemez rivers as Outstanding National Resource Waters, ensuring that these lifelines remain uncontaminated by pollution. The 10-0 vote shields these critical ecosystems from degradation caused by pollutants, heavy metals, temperature changes, and other environmental threats.