Good News Headlines 9/30/2024
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Federal Court Rules That Fluoridation Chemicals Pose An “Unreasonable Risk” To Health
by Fluoride Action Network
History has been made. After 7 years of pursuing legal action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the risk posed to the developing brain by the practice of water fluoridation, the United States District Court of the Northern District of California has just ruled on behalf of the Fluoride Action Network and the plaintiffs in our precedent-setting court case. A U.S. federal court has now deemed fluoridation an “unreasonable risk” to the health of children, and the EPA will be forced to regulate it as such. The decision is written very strongly in our favor.
Birds Sing Anew After Residents Of New Orleans Ninth Ward Restore 40-Acre Wetland To Historic Glory
by Andy Corbley. Good News Network
The Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans has recently witnessed an incredible eco-renaissance following decades of damage and neglect. Led by a local community development group, a 40-acre wetlands park has been restored to glories past with hundreds of local trees that attract over a hundred species of birds, plus joggers, picnickers, and nature lovers besides. The story begins with Rashida Ferdinand, founder of Sankofa Community Development Corporation (CDC). Growing up in this historic part of New Orleans she watched as it suffered from years of neglect.
Ozone Layer On Track For Full Recovery, WMO Report Says
by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch
Earth’s ozone layer — damaged in the 1970s and 1980s by ozone-depleting substances — is continuing to recover well, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)’s newest Ozone and UV Bulletin, released to coincide with World Ozone Day. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres noted that the planet’s ozone layer over Antarctica was on track for a full recovery under current policies, though additional protection measures were crucial, UN News said.
California To Ban All Plastic Bags In Grocery Stores By 2026
by Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Senate Bill 1053 banning all plastic bags at grocery stores in the state beginning in 2026. In 2014, California passed a ban on plastic shopping bags, but a loophole allowed shoppers to still be able to purchase bags made of thicker plastic for a dime apiece. A decade later, the choice will no longer be, “Paper” or “Plastic,” but “I brought my own,” “Paper” or “No, thanks.” “Plastic bags create pollution in our environment and break into microplastics that contaminate our drinking water and threaten our health,” said State Director of California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG).
‘You Basically Have Free Hot Water’: How Cyprus Became A World Leader In Solar Heating
by Helena Smith, The Guardian
The Thriamvos company truck pulls up at noon outside the four-storey building in the heart of Nicosia. It’s the third rooftop installation of a solar-powered water heating system that Petros Mihali and his assistant, Soteris, have made in the Cypriot capital since their working day began at 7am. The process is perfectly choreographed and almost always the same: in the searing midday sun, the crane bolted on to the truck hoists the boiler up first, then the black-paned solar panels, then the galvanised steel mount on which the entire system will stand.
