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With rollbacks in environmental protections happening in the U.S., you’d be forgiven for thinking the news is only bleak when it comes to the planet. But that’s not the whole story!

Despite these setbacks, the world is charging ahead, adopting renewable energy at record levels, preserving critical ecosystems, and caring for Mother Earth. Today’s Goodnewsletter is dedicated to those stories — enjoy these hopeful headlines for the planet!

Clean energy

Providing reliable, cheap electricity, solar power is growing in Pakistan at an “unprecedented” rate

Driven by demand from citizens frustrated by skyrocketing electricity prices and unreliable supply from an aging power grid, Pakistan is seeing a solar boom that’s making it one of the largest adopters of the renewable energy source in the world.

And with an overabundance of solar panels available thanks to its neighbor, China, steadily ramping up production, the number of homes and buildings installing solar power systems has happened at an “unprecedented” rate.

In 2024 alone, solar imports to Pakistan tripled in just one year, to nearly $2.1 billion. That’s expected to continue this year, with the country already importing 80% of last year’s milestone in the first nine months of 2025.

Why is this good news? Pakistan is proving that abundant, renewable, inexpensive solar energy is a great investment — for individuals and communities. Community members are even coming together to pool their resources to install solar panels on buildings like mosques, which struggle to afford rising electricity prices from the country’s grid.

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More Good News

​The Conservation Fund purchased North America’s largest blackwater swamp, saving it from a mining company. Spanning from southern Georgia into northern Florida, the Fund’s purchase is critical to protect the entire Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, including more than 350,000 acres of designated wilderness.

​A women’s group in northern Ghana is proactively reviving the region’s forests through natural regeneration. Reforestation efforts like large tree plantings with nursery-grown seedlings fail under harsh conditions, so the women have been pruning shoots from living trees dispersed by animal droppings to encourage stronger regrowth.

​A new joint effort by California and Nevada is protecting Lake Tahoe from a record amount of polluted runoff. By restoring wetlands and streams, limiting dust from roads and construction sites, and improving stormwater systems, the states dramatically reduced pollutants that fuel algae growth and are known to reduce Lake Tahoe’s world-famous clarity and water quality.

​Scientists discovered that kelp forests provide powerful protection against storms in coastal communities. Much like mangroves, researchers found that dense kelp beds could knock down as much as 70% of a wave’s energy before it reached the shore, giving vulnerable coastlines a natural shield against erosion and storm damage, an especially helpful discovery as storms grow in intensity and frequency.

​South Australia secured enough federal funding to become the first grid in the world to reach 100% net wind and solar energy. Reaching the milestone will be a landmark both for the state and for advocates of the renewable energy transition, particularly as conservative and legacy fossil fuel interests continue to push back on the idea that a modern economy can be powered by renewables.

Governments doing good

Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico are working together to create the second-largest nature reserve in the Americas

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good progress

After Vermont banned plastic bags, usage went down 91%

In 2020, Vermont enacted a law that prohibited businesses from offering plastic bags to customers and only made paper bags available in exchange for a $0.10 fee. A new analysis from the University of Vermont has found that the law appears to have worked, with plastic bag use dropping 91% across the state.

The survey also found that 70% of respondents viewed the legislation positively, and a number have changed the way they carry their goods. Some who previously used paper bags decided to stop once a price tag was introduced, and others had already been using reusable bags and continued to do so.

Overall, the researchers found that the policy’s success was due to a “bottom-up” effort from citizens who pushed state legislators to enact a ban due to environmental concerns surrounding single-use plastic.

What’s the nuance? Researchers found that while the law led to a near elimination of plastic bag use, paper bag use increased by more than 6% during the same time. They suggested that other states pursuing similar laws might consider including paper bags in their initial legislation to curb the use of disposable bags altogether.

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More Good bits

💰 Modern economies actually thrive under decarbonization.

🌱 A slum was facing eviction … then nature stepped in.

🐦 Seabirds are constantly pooping, and that’s a good thing.

🐢 Conservationists play the long game.

🦽 People of all abilities deserve access to nature.

👏 What’s government good for? Reducing plastic pollution!

What’s good?

I already am a reusable shopping bag fanatic, and charging for plastic bags is pretty standard in other countries.

Do you think a plastic bag ban would help your community make the switch?

Reply and tell me!

— Megan