United States

5 River Delta Resource Center

$15 million land purchase to protect 8,000 acres of “America’s Amazon” in south Alabama

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Nearly 8,000 acres of Alabama’s most sensitive and ecologically important land is being preserved forever, thanks to a multi-million dollar collaboration involving The Nature Conservancy in Alabama, Patagonia, and an undisclosed donor. The Nature Conservancy in Alabama says it has closed a $15 million+ deal to buy 7,990 acres in Clarke County at the head of the Mobile-Tensaw Delta, often called “America’s Amazon” for its remarkable biodiversity and wildlife.

Allegiant Stadium

Super Bowl 58 first to be fully powered by renewable energy

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This year’s Super Bowl was the first ever to be fully powered by renewable energy, thanks to the host stadium’s agreement with a solar farm. More than 621,000 solar panels found in a barren area of the Nevada desert help power Allegiant Stadium, home to the Las Vegas Raiders and host of Super Bowl LVIII. According to CBS News, the Les Vegas stadium entered into a 25-year agreement with NV Energy to buy power from its new solar installation.

Hands making hear shape over transgender flag in background

More than 90% of trans people are more satisfied with life after transitioning, massive new study finds

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Ninety-four percent of transgender people said that they were either a little or a lot more satisfied with their lives since they transitioned, the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS) by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) found. The study, which is the latest edition of the influential survey of transgender people, involved 92,329 transgender and nonbinary respondents answering questions about various aspects of their lives from October 19 to December 5, 2022.

Heat pumps

Nine U.S. states, including California and New York, sign heat pump agreement to clean up air pollution

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Nine U.S. states have inked an agreement to promote climate-friendly heat pump sales. The memorandum of understanding sets a 2030 target for heat pumps to make up 65% of residential heating, cooling, and water heating equipment sales. By 2040, the goal is for heat pumps to account for 90% of the HVAC and water heating market. The states on board with the agreement include: California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island.

California coast

First ever U.S. Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area declared in California

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The Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, Resighini Rancheria, and Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community designated the first ever Indigenous Marine Stewardship Area (IMSA) in the U.S. along the northern California coast.
The tribes plan to steward nearly 700 square miles of their ancestral ocean and coastal territories from the California-Oregon border to Little River near the town of Trinidad, California using traditional ecological knowledge and management practices.

Back of a school bus

Miami commits to putting 100 electric school buses on the road

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Miami-Dade county is set to receive nearly $20 million from the Environmental Protection Agency to help cover the costs of 50 new electric school buses and 16 DC fast chargers, bringing the public school district’s total to 100 electric buses. Miami-Dade county is one of four school districts selected to receive a total of $33,175,000 through the EPA’s first Clean School Bus Program’s Grants Competition.

Landfill. A lot of plastic garbage. Environmental problems.

Plastic bag bans in the U.S. have already prevented billions of bags from being used

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Over the past several years, U.S. cities and states have passed hundreds of policies restricting the sale and distribution of single-use plastic bags. A new report – copublished by Environment America, U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, and Frontier Group – says these laws have largely succeeded in their goal of reducing plastic bag use. New Jersey’s ban alone has eliminated more than 5.5 billion plastic bags annually.