United States

Hollywood sign at sunset

California passes two new bills protecting actors and performers against AI

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In a potentially precedent-setting moment for tech legislation across the country, the new laws not only bolster those existing protections but extend them to everyone in California — not just to people working in front of a camera in Hollywood, as IndieWire notes. Together, the bills make it illegal to use an AI-generated digital replica of an actor’s likeness or voice — or technically, any Californian’s — without their explicit consent. Studios will also be prohibited from cloning deceased actors unless they have permission from their estates.

Gavel

Joe Biden makes history by confirming 12th LGBTQ+ judge, the most of any U.S. presidency

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Judge Mary Kay Costello made history on Tuesday when she became the 12th Senate-confirmed LGBTQ+ judge appointed by President Joe Biden. The Senate voted 52-42 to confirm Costello after a day-long hearing. She’ll now sit on the bench of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Her confirmation helped Biden set a new record, topping both the Obama administration and Biden administration’s previously tied record of appointing 11 out LGBTQ+ judges.

Naloxone and Narcan

U.S. overdose deaths plummet, saving thousands of lives

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For the first time in decades, public health data shows a sudden and hopeful drop in drug overdose deaths across the U.S. National surveys compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already show an unprecedented decline in drug deaths of roughly 10.6% last year. That’s a huge reversal from recent years when fatal overdoses regularly increased by double-digit percentages.

Anchorage

Nurse practitioners can provide abortions in Alaska, judge rules

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A judge has struck down an Alaska law banning qualified nurse practitioners and physician assistants from performing abortions, siding with a legal challenge by a Planned Parenthood affiliate. Alaska Superior Court Judge Josie Garton in Anchorage has ruled that the law violated Alaskans’ rights to privacy and equal protection under the state constitution. The state’s top court found that those rights include a right to abortion in a 1997 ruling, and abortion is legal in the state at all stages of pregnancy.

Gray wolf population growing fast in California — up sixfold in the past five years

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The first wolf returned to the state after an 87-year absence in 2011, when a young male walked across the border from Oregon. By 2015, the first new wolf pack had re-established, in Siskiyou County. By 2019, there were seven gray wolves in California. Now there are 44 — a sixfold increase over the past five years, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Wolves are now found in nine of California’s 58 counties, in seven packs from the Oregon border to the mountains around Lake Tahoe, and in the Southern Sierra near Bakersfield.

Person touching pregnant belly with hands forming a heart

Aetna to start covering IUI in the U.S.

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Medical insurance company Aetna just announced that it’s going to be providing additional fertility coverage, specifically offering intrauterine insemination (IUI), to all policyholders regardless of sexual orientation or whether they’re partnered. This comes after a settlement agreement from a lawsuit earlier this year which stated that Aetna has to provide such care for LGBTQ+ people. The case, Goidel et al. v. Aetna, was filed in September 2021 and only came to a resolution in May after years of waiting and legal battles.

Salmon run

Salmon will soon swim freely in the Klamath River for first time in a century once dams are removed

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The largest dam removal project in U.S. history is nearing completion. Crews will use excavators this week to breach rock dams that have been diverting water upstream of two dams that were already almost completely removed, Iron Gate and Copco No. 1. The work will allow the river to flow freely in its historic channel, giving salmon a passageway to key swaths of habitat just in time for the fall Chinook, or king salmon, spawning season.

Aerial view of a turquoise French Polynesian atoll for an article about French Polynesia marine protected area

$35 million debt-for-nature deal aims to protect Indonesia’s coral reefs

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A $35 million debt-for-nature swap between Indonesia and the U.S. aims to conserve coral reefs in eastern Indonesia over the next nine years, with the funding offset by canceled sovereign debt payable to the U.S. Indonesian conservation groups and their international partners will implement ground programs to protect reefs in key areas, strengthen marine protected areas and support community livelihoods under the deal.

clean energy concept

Wind and solar energy production in U.S. surpasses coal for the first time in history

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From January through July of this year, wind and solar in the U.S. generated more net electricity than power from coal, according to recent data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). Further, wind energy generation alone beat coal energy generation in two consecutive months: March and April. As CleanTechnica reported, wind energy installations produced 45.9 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in March and a record high 47.7 GWh in April, compared to the 38.4 GWh in March and 37.2 GWh in April generated by coal-fired power plants.

Bison grazing in a wide open meadow in Yellowstone National Park for an article about national park grant access

National Park Foundation receives largest grant in its history to expand access

By / / Good News For Humankind

A record-breaking national park grant is bringing new momentum to America’s public lands. Lilly Endowment Inc. has donated 00 million to the National Park Foundation — the largest private gift ever made to the U.S. national park system and the biggest in the foundation’s nearly 60-year history. The funds will expand access for young people from underserved communities, protect threatened wildlife and ecosystems, and amplify the historically overlooked stories of Indigenous peoples, Black Americans, and other communities within park sites. The gift signals a meaningful shift in who national parks are understood to serve.