There’s a whole lot of doom and gloom these days from sustainability news. I think it’s critical to stay armed with facts and not ignore environmental consequences. At the same time, it’s important to discover positive news and stay focused on supporting solutions. So, here’s the good and the bad of four things happening in the world of sustainability (plus an uplifting extra):
1. Costa Rica’s Renewable Energy
The Good: Last year in 2016, Costa Rica ran on 98.1% renewable energy for more than 250 days. Read on
The Bad: Costa Rica’s source of clean power could easily be diminished due to climate change, and the energy model likely would not work for more industrialized countries. Read on
2. Fossil Fuels in America
The Good: Business investors are spending big (in the billions and trillions) on renewable energy and climate change criteria. Read on
The Bad: Trump calls for a return to fossil fuels and fewer regulations in an effort to make America energy independent. Read on
3. Algae Biofuel Systems
The Good: A study found that using a diverse mix of algae for biofuel makes the system less at risk for failure, which is promising for stabilizing the algae for industrial production environments. Read on
The Bad: Though the diverse algae systems are more stable, they are less productive, which would make large-scale industrial production of biofuel less efficient. (Same article as above)
4. Companies and Farming
The Good: The major yogurt company Dannon has set goals to be more sustainable, including working with dairy farmers toward biodiversity, having them feed their cows non-GMO feed, and helping farmers achieve economic stability. Read on
The Bad: (unrelated) People fear that Monsanto and Cargill’s GMO seeds, which were distrbuted by the World Food Program and the World Bank, could ruin the lives of Nigerian indigenous farmers. Read on
Extra: Kids Going Green
The Good (and only the good): Elementary school students and staff at a Wisconsin school participated in a program called “Cool Choices” to teach kids about sustainability, and they logged about 3,000 eco-friendly actions. Read on
