Green Mission News – May 2025
For climate and livelihoods, Africa bets big on solar mini-grids
Nigeria is pioneering the development of small, off-grid solar panel installations to bring reliable electricity to remote communities — setting a model for other African countries
How alligators are breathing life into Florida’s Everglades
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250417-how-alligators-keep-floridas-everglades-healthy
Why Pope Francis had the most progressive stance on climate change than any other pontiff in history
He declared the issue was “intimately related to the dignity of human life.”
How 50 years of climate change has changed the face of the ‘Blue Marble’ from space
From seaweed burgers to ‘upcycled’ potato chips, the high-end food industry is going ‘nature positive’
How beer sludge is being turned into vegan milk and leather
Greening Global Finance
A proposed “green” swap enables decarbonization of emerging market development projects.
https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2025/05/harvard-capital-investments-green-energy
‘This Business Just Wouldn’t Exist’ – Farmer Says Federal Program Was Critical to Success
The confusion over a federal spending freeze is threatening large- and small-scale farmers who rely on USDA programs in areas that private investors won’t touch, according to a national farmers coalition.
An Earth Day Milestone: 1,000,000 Meals Served on Non-Toxic Reusables in Schools
https://ceh.org/an-earth-day-milestone-1000000-meals-served-on-non-toxic-reusables-in-schools/
Bees, fish and plants show how climate change’s accelerating pace is disrupting nature in 2 key ways
Sikkim Becomes World’s First Fully Organic State,
Introduces Bamboo Bottles To Cut Plastic Use.
India’s Sikkim achieved this milestone in 2020, setting a global example in eco-conscious living.
Apprenticeships Bring a Fresh Generation to Small Dairy Farms
Pasture-based dairy farms struggle to compete with industrialized dairies. The Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship aims to help them thrive.
https://civileats.com/2025/01/28/for-small-dairy-farms-an-apprentice-can-make-all-the-difference/
One-sixth of the planet’s cropland has toxic levels of one or more metals.
A review of tens of thousands of soil samples from Earth reveals high concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, and lead in the pedosphere
Turning waste into building materials
https://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/364426-turning-waste-into-building-materials.html
Regenerative Agriculture & Recycling
50 States of Sustainability: Regenerative Agriculture & Recycling
This Scientist Wants Us to Combat the Climate Crisis by Thinking Like a Woman
An interview with Friederike Otto, the attribution scientist who wrote “Climate Injustice: Why We Need to Fight Global Inequity to Combat Climate Change”
Trump signs executive order to boost U.S. coal industry, in part” to fuel artificial intelligence”
It’s the latest move by the Trump administration that clashes with global aims to reduce coal power and cut harmful greenhouse gas emissions fueling climate change.
Fossil fuel companies caused $28 trillion in climate damage, study finds.
These 5 are tied to the most harm.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fossil-fuel-companies-emissions-climate-damage-study/
US halts construction of giant wind farm off New York coast
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy7d8lz7wjo
10 charts prove that clean energy is winning — even in the Trump era
Climate progress is actually good business.
https://www.vox.com/climate/377072/data-energy-trends-renewables-transition-escape-velocity
84% of the world’s coral reefs hit by worst bleaching event on record.
Harmful bleaching of the world’s coral has grown following the most intense event of its kind in recorded history.
Inside the desperate rush to save decades of US scientific data from deletion
“Climate science is only possible because of long-term datasets”
Meet the seed collector restoring California’s landscapes – one tiny plant at a time
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/19/seed-collector-california-native-landscapes
California physicians: Fossil fuel companies must pay for climate damages
Physicians working in California’s medical community, recognize that extreme weather events — a key component of human-driven climate change — cause significant harm to human health.
Senate Bill 684, would require fossil fuel companies to pay for “the damage caused by greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere” between 1990 and 2024. The California Environmental Protection Agency would be tasked with calculating and assessing the damages among the responsible parties.
Trump targets state climate laws, escalates deregulatory agenda
The White House released new orders last week targeting state laws related to climate change and environmental justice, which could ensnare waste laws covering organics or landfills.
Kennedy set to announce US ban on artificial food dyes in cereals, snacks and beverages
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpdzyjyp8x1o
What the Science Says About Food Additives
RFK Jr. has said the U.S. should rid its food supply of synthetic ingredients. How would that affect public health?
https://undark.org/2025/04/21/rfk-science-food-additives/
Ghost forests are growing as sea levels rise
As trees choked by saltwater die along low-lying coasts, marshes may move in — for better or worse, scientists are learning
Just 9.5% of plastic made in 2022 used recycled material, study shows
Global research reveals most of 400m tonnes produced using fossil fuels, predominantly coal or oil
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02169-5
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch isn’t just a floating trash pile
There are roughly 171 trillion pieces of plastic lurking in the world’s oceans.
https://www.popsci.com/environment/great-pacific-garbage-patch/
The climate crisis will be won or lost in Asia
https://mailchi.mp/climateandcapitalmedia/asias-clean-energy-century-17769802
Renewable energy now handles 40% of our global electricity needs
https://newatlas.com/energy/renewables-40-percent-global-electricity-ember/
Old wind turbine blades recycled into stronger plastics
https://newatlas.com/environment/wind-turbine-blades-recycled-stronger-plastics-wsu/
10 ways the Trump administration is “making America toxic again”
https://prheucsf.blog/2025/03/10/10-ways-the-trump-administration-is-making-america-toxic-again/
What Are Microplastics Doing to Our Bodies? This Lab Is Racing to Find Out.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/well/microplastics-health.html
Microplastics Are Everywhere—Here’s How to Limit Them in Your Food
Follow these steps to reduce your exposure.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/microplastics-everywhere-heres-limit-them-100000947.html
Weedkiller maker moves to settle suit over Parkinson’s disease claims
Syngenta has been besieged by lawsuits from people claiming its product caused the neurological condition
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/15/syngenta-weedkiller-parkinsons
Climate Change Threatens Earth’s Major Crops, Study Finds
https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-crops-food-security.html
Impact of Three Decades of Conservation Management Systems on Carbon Management Index and Aggregate Stability
Solving renewable energy’s sticky storage problem
When the Sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow, humanity still needs power. Researchers are designing new technologies, from reinvented batteries to compressed air and spinning wheels, to keep energy in reserve for the lean times.
They didn’t know their backyard creek carried nuclear waste. Now, they’re dying of cancer.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coldwater-creek-st-louis-missouri-nuclear-waste-manhattan-project/
As Chemical Industry Seeks Exemption From Pollution Limits, Residents See Assault on Their Lives
The Biden administration placed landmark limits on toxic pollutants from petrochemicals and other industries. Now, the Trump administration is offering to waive the requirements.
Green groups sue Trump administration over climate webpage removals
The White House has pulled federal webpages tracking climate and environmental justice data
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/15/trump-climate-webpage-removal-lawsuit
Inside the desperate rush to save decades of US scientific data from deletion
Book review: Planet Aqua, by Jeremy Rifkin
https://earthbound.report/2024/11/14/book-review-planet-aqua-by-jeremy-rifkin/
Book Review: Abundance
https://brettmilam.com/2025/03/29/book-review-abundance/
Book Review: Climate Change Is Racist: Race, Privilege and the Struggle for Climate Justice
https://greenchristian.org.uk/climate-change-is-racist-review/
Plastic Waste Management | Plastics and the Environment Series
https://www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/resources/updates/plastic-waste-management/
“Plastics addiction” is killing us, experts say, but hope remains
https://www.thenewlede.org/2025/04/plastics-addiction-killing-us-but-hope-remains/
The Baloney Detection Kit: Carl Sagan’s Rules for Bullshit-Busting and Critical Thinking
https://www.themarginalian.org/2014/01/03/baloney-detection-kit-carl-sagan/
The Baloney Detection Kit: A 10-Point Checklist for Science Literacy
https://www.themarginalian.org/2012/03/16/baloney-detection-kit/
The EPA’s Rejection of Climate Science Threatens Everyone
Just Stop Oil was policed to extinction – now the movement has gone deeper underground
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz6denxzweeo