U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

A calm freshwater lake at golden hour for an article about Lake Muskegon Great Lakes cleanup

Lake Muskegon is removed from federal pollution list after 40 years of Great Lakes cleanup

By / / Good News For Humankind

Lake Muskegon in Michigan has been officially removed from the U.S. EPA’s Areas of Concern list, making it one of the few Great Lakes sites to fully achieve this designation in four decades. State and federal officials confirmed the lake resolved all nine of its identified environmental impairments, from toxic sediment to unsafe fishing conditions. An 4 million federal investment through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative drove large-scale dredging and habitat restoration. Native fish populations are returning, and residents can now safely fish and swim. With 25 sites still remaining, Muskegon proves sustained commitment can reverse serious ecological damage.

Technicians carrying photovoltaic solar module while installing solar panel system on roof of house, for article on Solar for All grants

U.S. President Joe Biden announces $7 billion in federal solar power grants

By / / Good News For Humankind

Solar for All, a new $7 billion federal program, is set to bring rooftop and community solar to more than 900,000 lower- and middle-income households across the United States. Sixty grants will flow to state projects, tribal nations, and multi-state efforts, with participating families expected to save a combined $350 million each year on their energy bills. Alongside the funding, nearly 2,000 American Climate Corps positions will train local workers — in partnership with building trades unions — to install and maintain these systems. For communities long left out of the clean energy boom, it’s a real shift: the people who’ve shouldered the heaviest costs of fossil fuels are finally being placed at the front of the transition.

Water flowing from faucet, for article on PFAS drinking water limits

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announces first-ever national regulations for “forever chemicals” in drinking water

By / / Good News For Humankind

PFAS drinking water protections are now federal law, with the EPA setting the first-ever national limits on six “forever chemicals” found in tap water across the country. The rules are expected to reduce exposure for around 100 million Americans and will require roughly 6 to 10 percent of public water systems to upgrade testing and treatment. To help with the lift, $1 billion in federal funding is immediately available to states, with priority for the communities — often low-income and disproportionately communities of color — that have carried the heaviest contamination. After decades of industry resistance and slow-moving science, a binding national standard signals that public health can still win out, and offers a template for confronting the thousands of PFAS compounds still unregulated.

Back of a school bus, for article on electric school buses

Miami commits to putting 100 electric school buses on the road

By / / Good News For Humankind

Electric school buses are about to transform the daily commute for Miami-Dade students, with the district rolling out 100 of them thanks to a $19.1 million EPA grant, a Volkswagen award, and the school system’s own early investment. That makes it one of the largest electric school bus fleets in the country. The shift means cleaner air for kids waiting at the curb and quieter rides for the drivers behind the wheel, with no tailpipe emissions along the route. Miami-Dade’s blended funding approach — district dollars, federal support, and a corporate settlement — offers a model other communities can follow as the movement to electrify America’s roughly 480,000 school buses gathers speed.