It’s easy to survey the state of climate action in America and arrive at a dire conclusion.
As we’ve reported, the Trump administration has gutted federal efforts to monitor and respond to a dangerously warming planet, rolled back pollution regulations and is actively working against renewable energy while promoting fossil fuels.
In an article we published last weekend, we looked at how major environmental groups like Greenpeace and the Sierra Club were struggling and, some cases, cutting back.
Yet beyond Washington, there are still meaningful signs of progress, large and small. (Some big environmental groups, in fact, have started shifting their focus to state and local climate policy.)
All year, we’ve been traveling the country looking for local climate solutions as part of the 50 States, 50 Fixes project. We’ve covered wildlife crossings in Colorado, mangroves in Florida and rain gardens in Louisiana. This week, we’re adding five new entries:
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In Ohio, residents are forming buying clubs to purchase solar panels in bulk.
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In Mississippi, researchers are coaxing an endangered frog to procreate in a last-ditch effort to save it.
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In Maine, a library is lending out dumpling steamers and leg massagers in a bid to reduce waste.
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In Kentucky, a town turned a toxic cave into a (safe) tourist attraction.
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And in Delaware, a once-barren shoreline has been replanted to protect against rising seas.
Of course, local fixes alone won’t stop big environmental problems or stop global warming. That will require a wholesale remaking of the world’s energy, transportation and agricultural systems. But these are precisely the kinds of small-scale solutions that are desperately needed as the world figures out how to live on a hotter, more volatile planet.
The energy transition continues
It’s also the case that, though the Trump administration is working to stymie the clean power business and some environmental groups are struggling, the economics of the energy transition have a momentum of their own.
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