It’s gratifying and encouraging to know that there ARE good environmental actions being taken! So we present another good news edition – to counteract all the negativity around us!

From Create a New Climate For Action newsletter:

Don’t flush the forest! Buy recycled paper products. The Canadian boreal forest is probably the largest area of old-growth forest left in North America, and it’s being logged to make toilet paper, tissues and paper towels. In a recent report, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) describes how this precious forest is being ravaged to obtain the virgin paper pulp used in most of the toilet paper, tissues and paper towels sold in the US and globally.

Logging the boreal forest causes irreparable loss of biodiversity and harms hundreds of Indigenous communities. Forest patches are typically clearcut, which dramatically limits forest regrowth. Then monocultures of seedlings are planted for future logging. The original biodiversity will never recover under these conditions.

The climate impact is a double whammy: carbon sequestration by the trees stops and the carbon locked up in the trees returns to the atmosphere when the disposable paper products decompose. What’s the alternative? Buy recycled toilet paper, tissues and paper towels to help preserve biodiversity and keep carbon in the forests.

NRDC’s report includes detailed scorecards for the sustainability of major brands of toilet paper, paper towels and tissues. Here’s just a sample of the grades for toilet paper:

The big brands all get an F, as do store brands (Wegmans, Stop & Shop, Giant, Kroger, Publix and Trader Joes). The recycled TP from Seventh Generation and Who Gives A Crap (bonus: no plastic in the packaging) are indistinguishable from the major brands.

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From The Virginia Conservation Network:

The Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) has been putting Virginia on the path to achieve 100% clean electricity for 5 years now. Virginia has made significant progress in our clean energy economy:

• Carbon emissions dropped 22% in the first three years of VCEA implementation, while in RGGI (2021-2023)
• The VCEA is projected to save $118.5 billion in fuel costs over the lifespan of clean energy project investments
• There are 118,100 clean energy jobs in Virginia
• Virginia’s GDP has increased 11% since the passing of VCEA in 2020
• The VCEA is projected to save 32 lives per year across the state by 2045 and avoid up to $355 million per year in health-related costs. That’s up to $7 billion in health cost savings over 20 years

More positive change is to come. The VCEA requires Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power Company to deliver 100% clean energy by 2045 and 2050, respectively. By making this change, Virginia’s biggest electricity providers can build a modern energy economy that will create new jobs, make our planet healthier, and cost less in the long term than a dirty energy future.

Speaking of VCEA …..A local win!

Brownfield land (the now-closed Ivy Landfill in Albemarle County) should have solar on top by end of 2025. Read the story here by Sean Tubbs here

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Charlottesville’s City Bike Voucher Program:

Enter for a chance to win a voucher for $1,000 towards an e-bike!

Each quarter, a grant for this pilot program will allow us to draw 25 winners for a $1,000 voucher to use towards an e-bike at any of our participating local retailers. You must be a resident of the City of Charlottesville and be 18 years of age or older at the time of the drawing.

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From Jessica Craven’s Newsletter Chop Wood, Carry Water:

• A federal judge in Massachusetts said he plans to deny a motion by the Trump administration to dismiss a lawsuit over its blocking of wind energy projects, siding with a coalition of state attorneys general.
• Public lands are safe from being sold off in the reconciliation bill.
• Nearly 8,000 acres of forest in Alabama’s Mobile-Tensaw Delta, one of the most biodiverse places in North America, is now protected as the E.O. Wilson Land Between the Rivers Preserve — named after a pioneering biologist from the state.
• Ireland has joined a small but growing group of European countries that have completely ended coal power generation.
• Massachusetts enacted a revamped version of its solar incentive program that developers and advocates say should keep the state’s solar industry moving forward even as the Trump administration pushes to undermine federal support for clean energy.
• A solar project in Knox County, Ohio that fossil fuel interests tried hard to block has finally received approval from the Ohio Power Siting Board, which oversees the development of energy projects in the state.
• The Wisconsin Supreme Court delivered a victory for environmentalists in the fight over “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, issuing a ruling that advocates said will hold polluters accountable.
• The Senate Parliamentarian ruled against language in the Big Beautiful Bill mandating the sale of all U.S. Postal Service electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.

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The New York Times is starting a new initiative entitled ‘50 States, 50 Fixes’ – Now more than ever, environmental solutions may seem out of reach. But they’re happening all over the country. This year, NYT will be highlighting one thing that’s working in every state. Here’s a link to the article.

For the people and the planet!
Your Editor,
Ellie Syverud