To say 2026 has had a bumpy start is putting it mildly. From the fatal shooting of Renée Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis, a tragedy that has ignited national outrage, to tensions with NATO allies sparked by presidential threats over Greenland, the headlines have been deeply troubling.
Which is why seeking and sharing positive stories matters. It offers hope. And hope is what keeps us engaged instead of withdrawn. Positive stories counter the paralysis of despair by showing that change, kindness and courage are still happening, often quietly and without headlines. They may not erase injustice, but they make our resistance sustainable.
That is exactly what a recent New York Times article on climate change does. Despite all the rollbacks at the national level, progress has continued at the state and local levels. So while Washington undermines and defunds, our states, cities and citizens are getting still things done.
“50 States, 50 Fixes” by Cara Buckley and Catrin Einhorn shares initiatives throughout the country to help solve climate and environmental problems. Many are common sense that save money, while others are creative and compelling solutions. Together, they offer a reminder that America hasn’t given up on the climate - we’ve just decentralized our efforts.
Take Texas, a state known for defending reliance on fossil fuels. But far beneath its oil fields lies an abundance of geothermal energy that innovators and entrepreneurs are figuring out how to access to tap the Earth’s heat for always-on, carbon-free power.
In Colorado, environmental action is building wildlife bridges and tunnels that help elk, deer and other animals migrate safely across highways, resulting in fewer collisions and healthier ecosystems (plus some really cool looking infrastructure).
Then there’s Arkansas, soaking up the sun. Solar power is spreading rapidly across rural and urban communities there, lowering energy costs and cutting emissions in places that rarely get credit for clean-energy leadership. It’s practical and affordable — just panels on roofs quietly doing their thing.
And finally, our favorite: Montana, where decades of conservation efforts have brought back grizzlies, and the problems that led to their demise. Until a stray dog started chasing the bears away. That led the state Wildlife Department to experiment guarding farms with big breeds, like Turkish Kangals and Anatolian Shepherds. And it works – without expensive deterrents or heated debates over shooting grizzlies.
There are 50 such stories in this series, all inspiring and reassuring that environmental progress in the U.S. isn’t cancelled. It’s just happening locally with a surprising amount of ingenuity.
“It is really meaningful to spend time with people who are working so hard to make their communities better... it makes me think of something that Jane Goodall, the famous primatologist and environmentalist who died in October, something that she emphasized a lot, especially toward the end of her life, was that every single day that we live, we are making a difference.
Our actions are making a difference, and we get to decide what kind of difference we make.” - Catrin Einhorn
