Good News Headlines 2/12/2024
Photo courtesy Martin Kraft/Wikipedia Commons
Christian Bale Unveils Plans To Build 12 Foster Homes In California
by Catherine Shoard, The Guardian
Christian Bale has led a tour round the new village in California where he plans to build 12 foster homes, as well as two studio flats to help children transition into independent living, and a 7,000 sq ft community centre. The actor has spearheaded the building of a unique complex of facilities with the aim of keeping siblings in the foster care system together, and ideally under the same roof. Work is under way on the project, which has an estimated cost of $22m (£17.5m) and completion date of 2025. Situated next to a park in Palmdale, the village will be the first of its kind in the state.
Hundreds of Green Jobs Listings Available
by E-Magazine
Looking for a job working for an environmental group or contributing to the clean energy economy? These and other green jobs not only allow you to earn a living but also to contribute to the health and well-being of the planet and its inhabitants.
Parisians Vote In Favour Of Tripling Parking Costs For SUVs
by Angelique Chrisafis, The Guardian
Parisians have voted to triple parking costs for sports utility vehicles (SUVs), as the city aims to tackle air pollution and climate breakdown by targeting rich drivers in heavy, large and polluting cars. In a referendum on Sunday, which was closely watched by other capital cities, including London, 54.6% voted in favour of special parking fees for SUVs, according to provisional results. However, the turnout – at about 5.7% of Paris’s registered voters – was lower than green campaigners had hoped for.
California Sea Otters Nearly Went Extinct. Now They’re Rescuing Their Coastal Habitat
by Ari Daniel, NPR
The California sea otter, once hunted to the edge of extinction, has staged a thrilling comeback in the last century. Now, a team of scientists has discovered that the otters’ success story has led to something just as remarkable: the restoration of their declining coastal marsh habitat. “To me, it’s quite an optimistic message,” says Christine Angelini, a coastal ecologist at the University of Florida and one of the authors of the study published in the journal Nature.
Isolated Indigenous People As Happy As Wealthy Western Peers
by Rupert Neate, The Guardian
People living in remote Indigenous communities are as happy as those in wealthy developed countries despite having “very little money”, according to new scientific research that could challenge the widely held perception that “money buys happiness”. Researchers who interviewed 2,966 people in 19 Indigenous and local communities across the world found that on average they were as happy – if not happier – as the average person in high-income western countries.
