Barclays cuts finance ties with private prisons
Barclays Plc will stop providing future financing to companies that manage private prisons and immigration holding facilities, joining other major lenders in shunning the industry.
United States
This archive collects solutions-journalism stories and milestones from the United States — covering policy wins, community-led efforts, scientific advances, and social progress happening across the country. Each entry highlights what’s working and why it matters.
Texas is generating more electricity from wind than coal for the first time ever
Data released this month by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas shows wind created 22 percent of the electricity used in the first half of the year, edging out coal by 1%.
First Step Act frees many formerly incarcerated individuals in the U.S. from Bureau of Prisons custody
The First Step Act, a bipartisan criminal justice reform law passed in Congress last year, was the catalyst for the release of more than 3,100 formerly incarcerated individuals from federal custody on July 19.
New York becomes first state to ban declawing cats
“Cat declawing is a brutal procedure similar to severing a human finger at the first knuckle and has lifelong ramifications for cats.”
New York climate plan sets 30-year goal for 100% renewable energy
A new law signed by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo sets the nation’s most aggressive targets for reducing carbon emissions.
California condor births mark soaring comeback after numbers dwindled to 22
Biologists estimate that the 1,000th and 1,001st chicks hatched in May this year, and they confirmed their existence this week.
Overdose deaths in the United States drop for first time in two decades
Overdose deaths in the United States finally reversed course in 2018, ending nearly two decades of almost unbroken annual increases — a sign that the coordinated public health response is starting to work. Expanded naloxone access, medication-assisted treatment, and community outreach all appear to have contributed, though no single intervention gets the credit. The picture inside the data is mixed: while opioid deaths fell, deaths involving cocaine and methamphetamine rose, suggesting the epidemic shifted rather than ended. Still, experts say this is evidence that scaling up treatment saves lives — and that doing so remains the central, unfinished challenge.
Oglala Sioux Tribe legalizes same-sex marriage
The tribal council last week approved a same-gender marriage ordinance in a 12-3 vote with one abstention.
University of Texas promises full scholarships to low-income students
The UT Board of Regents voted to establish a $160 million endowment to offer full scholarships to in-state students with family incomes under $65K by 2020.
California becomes first state in the U.S. to ban racial discrimination against natural hair
The CROWN Act updates the state’s anti-discrimination law so that “race” includes “traits historically associated with race,” such as afros and braids.