OGN Friday
- Editor OGN Daily
- Sep 29, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 9, 2023
Wrapping up the week with an eclectic bundle of good news nuggets.
Nature Restoration
Norway has just completed its largest-ever nature restoration project, removing all traces of a large-scale mining project in Svalbard that ran for over a century. 'The rivers have begun to return to their old courses, and even the polar bears cannot notice that mining has been going on here since 1910. The terrain, glaciers and mountainsides now appear unaffected.'
Secret Population of Polar Bears Discovered: The genetically isolated polar bears are surviving in an improbable habitat - one that lacks floating sea ice that is normally used by polar bears for hunting. This discovery provides hope for the future of white bears. More...
New Windows
For more than 60 years, stained-glass windows honoring Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson hung at Washington National Cathedral. But in 2015, the cathedral decided to take them down. Now, six years after the panels’ removal in 2017, the Washington, D.C. church has unveiled their replacement: four colorful windows depicting the struggle for racial justice. Titled Now and Forever, the panels show Black Americans holding protest signs bearing the words “Fairness” and “No foul play.” Most of the figures are on foot; one is seated in a wheelchair.
Oldest Stained Glass Windows in Britain: Scientists have discovered that Canterbury Cathedral’s stained glass windows date back even further than originally thought. More...
Woolly-Headed
Sheep seeking refuge from a flood got a "baaad" case of the munchies after breaking into a greenhouse filled with medical grade cannabis, said The New York Post. The herd were fleeing floodwaters in the Greek region of Thessaly after Storm Daniel swept over the Mediterranean, but "appeared to have found greener pastures" in the legal cannabis farm. After breaking in, the hungry animals "devoured" more than 600lb (270kg) of the "green stuff", farm owner Yannis Bourounis told local media. The sheep were "jumping higher than goats, which never happens", he added.
Texas Leads The Way
In the last three years, Texas, the epitome of a recalcitrant red state soaked with fossil fuel, increased its utility-scale solar capacity five-fold, connecting more than 10GW, says Canary Media. That's probably the fastest pace of renewable energy capacity expansion anywhere in the world outside of China. In Texas. Extraordinary.
Woman President Brazil
Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, is the Morena party's presidential candidate in the upcoming June 2024 election, and former Mexican Sen. Xóchitl Gálvez is a presidential candidate for a broad opposition coalition. That means - barring any upsets by a third-party candidate - Mexico will elect a woman president, shattering the glass ceiling in a notoriously patriarchal country. In further good news, both candidates are likely to pivot the country towards a much greener future. Women have made huge strides in Mexico's political arena in recent years, making up nearly half of the legislature since 2021. A woman is currently chief justice of the Mexican Supreme Court.
NASA Tech
Looking for airless bicycle tires made with NASA-developed technology? Of course you are. Good news! You can now buy them from The SMART Tire Company. According to Interesting Engineering, SMART's METL bike tires "have minimal rolling resistance (less effort for you), require no air pressure, ride smoothly like pneumatic tires, and last the lifetime of your vehicle."
US Debt Swaps
Peru has struck its third debt-for-nature swap agreement with the United States, redirecting $20 million of international debt to environmental efforts in the Amazon rainforest. It's a great innovation, as debt-for-nature swaps are financial transactions in which a portion of a developing nation's foreign debt is forgiven in exchange for local investments in environmental conservation measures. The US has now made 13 debt-for-nature and debt-for-climate swaps in Latin America and 22 worldwide, including with Bangladesh, Botswana, Indonesia, Jamaica, and the Philippines.
"Good news is rare these days, and every glittering ounce of it should be cherished and hoarded and worshipped and fondled like a priceless diamond." Hunter S. Thompson
On this Day
29 September 1829: Through the efforts of Robert Peel, England's first professional police force, London's Metropolitan Police (often called Scotland Yard), was founded; it became a model for future police departments in various other countries, including the United States.
Mood Booster
I'll Never Find Another You: The Seekers' first hit single reaching #1 in Feb '65.
