Each week we sift through the doom and gloom climate headlines to find success stories. Whether it’s an individual action, structural change or a stroke of luck, we hope these headlines make Earth-friendly living more approachable. On the local front, we saw action to protect the Skagit River.

CNN honors 10 men and women for making the world a better place

  • CNN revealed its list of “10 men and women who are making the world a better place by helping families affected by tragedy, cleaning up the environment, protecting neglected animals, and so much more.”
  • On the list is Afroz Shah, a Mumbai lawyer who began picking up trash from Versova Beach in 2015. He has since led a “volunteer movement that has cleared more than 60 million pounds of garbage — mostly plastic waste — from Mumbai’s beaches and waterways.”
  • On December 8, Freweini Mebrahtu was named Hero of the Year and awarded $100,000 to continue her cause of removing the cultural stigma around women’s periods.

British Columbia says it will no longer log in Skagit headwaters key to Puget Sound

By Evan Bush in The Seattle Times, Dec. 4

  • After Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan raised concerns about “water quality and environmental degradation,” B.C. officials halted logging efforts and vowed to protect a timber site at the headwaters of the Skagit River.
  • The Skagit River is crucial habitat that flows from B.C. to the Puget Sound and is home to the endangered bull trout.
  • With logging shut down, mining company Imperial Metals has filed for an exploratory mining permit. B.C. officials have yet to make a decision, but several Washington officials have spoken out against the proposed mining activity.

California voters now rank climate change as their top priority

By Nathanael Johnson in Grist, Dec. 10

  • A poll of California’s Democratic primary voters revealed that 47% view climate change as the “most important crisis for the next president to address.” Climate change topped health care, immigration reform and criminal justice as the number one priority for those polled.
  • The poll was conducted by the Institute of Governmental Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
  • The priority on climate change was consistent across several demographics. 37% of the respondents that identified as moderate or conservative placed climate change as their top political concern.

Did we miss something? Share a hopeful headline with us on Twitter (@emeraldology) or in the comments below!

Feature photo by Vashishtha Jogi on Unsplash.