GOOD NEWS • UPFRONT
good news F R O M A L L OV E R
Throwing Some Shade
According to National Geographic’s Planet Possible (bit.ly/PlanetPoss), here are just a few cities that are putting trees to work cooling things down: Baltimore: Hiring residents to plant trees in underserved communities. Phoenix: Targeting the hottest neighborhoods — low-income and primarily Latino — for tree planting, shade structures, and redesigned streets. Boston: Creating sophisticated shade maps to drive future planning efforts.
Avoid the Tipping Point
Remember the hole in the ozone layer? That was largely the consequence
of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) — common chemicals in refrigerants and aerosol sprays. Through global cooperation in banning those substances in 1987, called the Montreal Protocol, that hole is largely healed. But in the climate version of whacka-mole, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) also wreak havoc on the planet by contributing to climate change. The Biden administration recently announced it is taking steps to mitigate HFCs, which, according to the New York Times, can help us avoid climate tipping points: “By taking fast action on these shortlived climate pollutants, of which HFCs are the most potent, we can buy ourselves
some time … The regulation would begin to take effect in 2022, and would gradually reduce the production and importation of hydrofluorocarbons in the U.S. by 85 percent over the following 15 years. About 15 percent of HFCs would still be permitted because they have critical uses for which alternatives do not yet exist” (bit.ly/HFCregs).
The Grist Report: Plastic Pollution Becomes More Transparent
There’s little incentive for companies to reduce their plastic pollution if most of us are in the dark about it. Now, corporate
Continued on page 12
M A R T H A’ S V I N E YA R D / S U M M E R 2 0 2 1
11
