A koala National Park, locals defeating 37 data centers, and more things going right this week
Hey fam,
Welcome to the 21st Friday of the year! That’s means there’s 31 left, for anyone keeping count.
This week, the weather in NYC ranged from 95 degrees F and sunny, to 50 degrees F and rainy. Each day really is a mystery. Keeps us on our toes at least?
I hope you had a great week. Cap it off with the underrated good news stories I was able to find, and make the most of this weekend ahead!
What’s going right in the world:
The researcher saving native turtles in Yosemite
(I originally covered this story last year, but here it is again for those that missed it)
An invasion of bullfrogs that “eat anything that fits into their mouth” nearly took out an adorable native turtle species, until scientists got to work on saving them.
Sidney Woodruff saw a “constellation of eyes” from invasive American bullfrogs blinking back at her at night in Yosemite, with a call so loud that native species were completely drowned out. So she decided to lead a 7-year-study (while getting her PHD at UC Davis!) to see if removing the invasive frogs could help populations of the northwestern pond turtle recover.
With western pond turtles being the only native freshwater species in California, the area’s marine ecology depends on their natural cycling of nutrients that benefit all sorts of other species. Yet the non-native bullfrogs appeared to be preying on and threatening the survival of young turtles.
To confirm suspicions, Sidney and a team of scientists gathered research on what happens when thousands of frogs are removed, and found 2-100 times more abundance of turtles, slowly but surely hearing the chorus of native species sounds once again and publishing their results for other sites to learn from their methods.
Join me in thanking these researchers for their efforts, and choosing to protect the northwestern pond turtle!
Corporations are no longer “people” in Hawaii
Corporations in Hawaii can no longer spend unlimited money to sway elections. This was first allowed in a Supreme Court case known as Citizen United that essentially classified corporations as people, but a new Hawaiian Bill makes them the first state to clarify that: no, corporations are artificial entities, and maybe billions of dollars of dark money flowing into elections shouldn’t be allowed. (Michael Sherer|The Atlantic)
New Koala National Park
Back over 100 years ago, koalas were hunted in the millions by the fur industry in Australia, until strong public backlash stopped it in perhaps the nation’s first large collective conservation movement.
But even without directly hunting these amazing animals, their numbers kept decreasing due to development, mining, and forestry that divided and destroyed their home.
So grassroots groups and environmental organizations started a 13-year campaign to create the Great Koala National Park in New South Wales, with many people like Mark Graham facing threats to mind their own business and assaults that the police tried to ignore.
But they never gave up, showing the government the urgency of the situation, plus the economic incentives of ecotourism, until they were finally convinced in 2025 to link together existing reserves and forests connecting 1,900 square miles (5,000 square kilometers).
Yet even with these protections, land owners need to be educated, logging bans need to be enforced, and native trees need to grow back before koalas can use them. But the Indigenous people know it’s possible for humans and koalas, which are sacred to them, to live together in harmony, and are determined to share their knowledge for a unified path forward.
Showing that even when hope is lost, we can win when we come together and stay strong.
NYC home-battery pilot
A program is piloting in New York City with plug-in batteries that can hold enough charge to power air conditioners during high heat and peak demand. This is meant to save grid strain and costs, which is essentially acting like a microwave-sized version of those portable power banks we all have, and they look pretty cool too. (Kiki Sideris|AP)
Locals are beating 37 data centers
A monstrous project of 37 polluting data centers near a historic Civil War site in Virginia is losing to the local residents who oppose it. They sued for the project’s failure to adequately notify the public, which has won in court twice now (a lower court, and an appeals court). This has convinced one of the two developers to drop out, and it isn’t looking good for the other as locals aren’t backing down. (Joe Heim|Washington Post, Nick Paschal|The Cool Down)
Our community took action
svelte11 is growing a fruit hedge for their neighbors to pick from as they walk by!
How are you making the world better?
+ Bonus stories!
🌾 Last week, I talked about No Mow May, where people aren’t mowing their lawns in an effort to increase biodiversity. A reader (thanks, Paul!) graciously pointed out that this isn’t a good solution everywhere, so if you’re curious about your area, here’s more information to start you off.
🎒 Tiny backpacks are helping hedgehogs survive.
🛸 Can we finally bring airships back?
⚡️ BYD amazes again, rolling out electric cars that can charge from 10% to 70% in 5 minutes.
💨 Last year, China also installed three times more wind power than the rest of the world put together.
This newsletter was written by Jacob Simon. Over 1 million people are in our community across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. You can say hi on LinkedIn, or by hitting reply. Brand illustration by Andrea Miralles. Thanks for helping spread some positivity, and see you next week for more.