Arbor Day Foundation launches 100 million tree-planting initiative
The Arbor Day Foundation recently announced its Time for Trees initiative, which aims to plant 100 million trees by 2022.
United States
Inexpensive ‘first-of-its-kind’ device can generate electricity from snowfall
UCLA researchers have developed a first-of-its-kind device that can generate electricity from falling snow. The inexpensive device scientists is small, thin, and flexible like a sheet of plastic.
6,034 Amazon employees demand company climate change plan
“We, the undersigned 6,034* Amazon employees, ask that you adopt the climate plan shareholder resolution and release a company-wide climate plan that incorporates the principles outlined in this letter.”
Morehouse College, the nation’s only black all-male college, will begin admitting transgender students in 2020
“In a rapidly changing world that includes a better understanding of gender identity, we’re proud to expand our admissions policy to consider trans men who want to be part of an institution that has produced some of the greatest leaders in social justice, politics, business, and the arts for more than 150 years,”
Bank of America commits $300 billion to sustainable finance by 2030
By helping clean energy business tap global markets, Bank of America is funding valuable sustainable projects and also creating green jobs, spurring economic progress.
In major shift, Mormon Church reverses anti-LGBT policies
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is reversing its controversial 2015 policy that classified people in same-sex marriages as “apostates.” Children of parents who identify as LGBT may now also be blessed as infants and baptized.
Chicago makes history electing Lori Lightfoot as first black woman mayor
Lori Lightfoot, a political newcomer, was elected the first black female mayor of Chicago. Lightfoot, who will also become the first openly gay mayor of the third-largest U.S. city, appealed to voters who are tired of politics as usual.
New York becomes second U.S. state to ban plastic bags
State lawmakers in New York have approved a ban on plastic bags at retail and grocery establishments that would take effect next year as part of the state’s budget.
Maryland becomes the sixth U.S. state to raise the minimum wage to $15
Lawmakers managed to override Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s veto of a minimum wage bill. Maryland’s current minimum wage is $10.10, and the new policy will gradually raise the wage floor to $15 by 2025.
Puerto Rico bans gay and transgender conversion therapy for minors
The governor of Puerto Rico signed an executive order on Wednesday banning so-called conversion therapy for gay or transgender minors on the island.