Welcome to the week.
Given the level of election-related stress this week, and over the past few weeks, and probably in the weeks to come, we’re feeling a bit like this:
So we decided to give everyone a break and focus on good news only today (all of which is the result of people taking action, every day to make the world better!)
Here’s a little positive corner of the internet you can hold close for today, and then maybe just go ahead and switch off your computer for a little bit.
This week:
⚡Money for electrification
❤🩹Hope for health equity
🌊Water security and river restoration
➕ Math stars
And more
See you on the other side,
— Willow
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⚡️ Climate change:
Money for electrical projects in pouring in, including:
$3 billion for rural electric cooperatives to promote renewable energy in rural areas and cut electricity rates
Utilities and solar installers have teamed up to create New York’s largest virtual power plant by tapping into a network of over 300 solar-powered homes with battery storage (batteries that were provided for free!)
The largest offshore wind sale in American history just occurred in the Gulf of Maine, creating the potential for the development of 6.8 gigawatts of offshore wind power Offshore wind in Maine
The Port of LA just received a $400 million grant to help with electrifying their operations
The inaugural class of Climate Corps includes the SolarCorps fellowship run by GRID Alternatives, that provides no-cost solar installations for low-income households while training a diverse workforce in clean energy jobs — having already installed solar panels for over a thousand families
🌎 Columbia has granted Indigenous peoples the authority to protect, manage, and conserve biodiversity in their territories
A solid-state battery that can recharge in just 10 minutes, developed by Harvard researchers, has received Series A funding to scale production
🦠 Health & Bio:
🌏 Read about what gives these leading health experts hope for advancing health equity
CRISPR has revolutionized drug discovery in cancer research by allowing researchers to test thousands of genetic alternations simultaneously, accelerating the drug development process and opening new possibilities for personalized cancer treatments
A new nanomedicine technology that enables targeted delivery of antibiotics is showing promising results, opening up possibilities to treat infections better and address food waste
💦 Food & Water:
🌎 Improving food security in places like Senegal requires a systems approach and targeted actions that also improve health and income, protect nature, and help mitigate climate change Food security improving in Senegal
🌎 Nature-based solutions in Kenya are effectively addressing water security challenges while supporting human needs and ecosystem preservation Kenyan river restoration
👩💻 Beep Boop:
Two high-school students from Louisiana have found new, peer-reviewed and now published, ways to solve the (2000 year old) Pythagorean theorem
This AI-powered tutoring assistant helped human tutors increase their capacity to help students through math problems and improve student performance
🌎 = Global news
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Want to read what the people working on the frontlines of the future are reading?
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And every week, we add their picks to a list on Bookshop, where every purchase on the site financially supports independent bookstores.
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Last week’s most popular Action Step was finding and supporting candidates in your district who support the causes you care about. Let’s go!
🌎 Donate to Charity Water to fund clean, safe, community-owned drinking water projects.
Volunteer with Moms Clean Air Force to protect kids from air pollution and climate change.
🌎 Get educated about the best places to plant trees using WRI’s interactive map that shows the best locations for restoration activities.
Be heard about supporting restoration and resiliency projects by telling your reps to support the Land Restoration and Resiliency Act.
Invest in farms practicing regenerative agriculture with Farm VC.
🌎 = Global Action Step
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