in the headlines...

• A judge temporarily blocked the deportation of Palestinian Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent legal U.S. resident arrested over the weekend by immigration agents who accused him of “leading activities aligned to Hamas” — but he has not been charged with any crime.
• The new U.S. Energy Secretary just publicly pledged to reverse the country’s focus on climate change. But remember: the U.S. is already well on its way to reaching a full transition to renewables … because they’re only getting cheaper. (Plus, the world is still moving forward, with or without the U.S.)

Governments doing good

After London expanded its ultra low emission zone, there’s been a dramatic decline in deadly air pollutants

Since the city of London expanded its ultra low emission zone — the largest in the world — levels of deadly pollutants have dropped at a faster rate than even the rest of England.

While the expansion of Ulez in 2023 faced opposition, a new report shows just how much of a benefit it was to the health and safety of Londoners and the environment overall — bringing cleaner air to millions more people.

Greenhouse gas emissions have also been dramatically reduced, preventing the carbon dioxide emissions equivalent of nearly 3 million one-way passenger trips between the Heathrow and New York airports.

Even more good: Particularly notable is the pollution concentration in outer London, which improved so rapidly that they’re not similar to the average for the rest of England. When the prime minister who oversaw the expansion first got started, it was estimated it would take 193 years to bring the city’s air pollution within legal limits — but it could now happen this year.

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✏️ Related: A study found that London’s low-emissions zone increased the number of children walking and biking to school​

More Good News

​Under a new plan, the lowest income workers in the UK will be eligible to take paid sick days off. Under the current system, people are forced to “choose between their health and earning a living” — to qualify for statutory sick pay, you must have been ill for more than three days in a row and earn an average of at least £123 a week.

​A church in Alaska turned its parking lot into a tiny home village to save their unhoused neighbors from freezing. Every year, Anchorage, Alaska averages 75-80 inches of snow, with winter temperatures often dipping down to 11°F to 15°F — so Central Lutheran Church built six tiny homes in their parking lot and welcomed homeless seniors to take shelter from the elements.

​Scientists discovered a new part of the immune system that could help develop new antibiotics. The researchers in Israel said the discovery transforms our understanding of how we are protected against infection and gives them a new place to look for antibiotics to tackle the growing problem of superbugs that resist current drugs.

​New research shows that private funding for nature has surged to over $102 billion in the last four years. The Global Biodiversity Framework agreed to at COP15 calls for mobilizing at least $200 billion per year from domestic, international, public, and private resources for biodiversity-related funding by 2030 ​— this surge in private funding helps close that gap.

Interesting story

3D-printed tiny homes made from recycled plastics offer speedy, safe transitional housing to LA wildfire victims

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People doing good

Three millennials bought an abandoned high school for $100K and converted it into 31-unit housing

For ten years, Bowtie High School in Pennsylvania sat vacant — until three millennials bought it for $100,000. Eighteen months and $3.3 million in renovations later: it became 31 units of housing.

The three friends, all designers, “worked closely with the National Park Service” to maintain the historical nature and significance of the building. The floors are original, the basketball court and stage are key features, library bookshelves were repurposed, and more.

And people online commended their “creative real estate development” and ability to make something new out of established buildings — rather than simply tearing down and building new.

The trio says the challenge of people saying renovations of old buildings like these “can’t be done” is what drives them. And they’ve already done it to another abandoned school down the street.

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More Good bits