Hambach Wilderness Lives
After a decades-long battle, one of Germany’s last remaining fragments of intact ancient woodland has been saved from coal-mining expansion. The remainder of the Hambach forest between the western German cities of Aachen and Cologne will remain standing as the country phases out coal, the most polluting fossil fuel.
For decades, environmentalists and locals had been campaigning for the forest and even occupied trees high in the forest canopy to stop logging, but they were repeatedly evicted. In October 2018, around 50,000 people flooded the forest to protest plans to turn it into an open-pit mine – and ultimately won a legal battle to stop the clearing.
Meanwhile in the US, federal lands are being opened up to drilling and extraction, but some local communities are also protesting.
Australia’s free electricity
The sunny land below is producing so much solar energy that it’s giving away electricity for free. To ease pressure on the grid and demand shifts during evening peak hours, officials hope to encourage consumers to do power-hungry tasks like washing clothes when the sun shines.
Most of Australia’s energy still comes from climate-destroying fossil fuels, but renewable energy advocates call it a step in the right direction.
How a Dutch town got rid of cars (almost)
Utrecht in the Netherlands has transformed itself from a city filled with cars to a paradise for cyclists – and has now overtaken Copenhagen in the Copenhagenization Index, a ranking of the world’s best cities for biking and urban mobility.
About 49% of trips in the city are now made by bike. Getting there took time and a multi-pronged approach, including converting a highway into a canal dotted with walking, sitting and cycling spaces and building park-and-ride facilities on the city’s edges. Other cities around the world are also trying to promote cycling.
Edited by: Anke Rasper