Dandelion News - January 1-7
Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $kaybarr1735 or check out my Dandelion Doodles!
1. Clean energy remains dominant in the US — despite Trump
“Through November, 92% of new power capacity added to the grid in 2025 came in the form of solar, wind, or storage[….] Despite Trump’s all-out assault on wind energy — and his pledge that no “windmills” would be built during his term — the energy source has so far accounted for more gigawatts of new electricity than gas turbines have.”
2. Massive Amazon conservation program pledges to put communities first
“The Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) is a massive conservation program that has helped reduce deforestation [and CO2 emissions] across 120 conservation areas[….] A new phase of the program, called ARPA Comunidades, will now focus on supporting the communities who live in and protect the forest, by helping them increase their revenue through the bioeconomy or sale of sustainable forest products.”
3. Tiny Fiddler crabs are hoovering up and breaking down microplastics, study finds
“[… These crabs] are able to ingest and break down large quantities of small plastic particles in the sediment […] within days, acting much faster than sunlight and waves. […] Many of the microplastics were fragmented further in the [digestion] process, with the team concluding that the animal’s specialised grinding gut, together with plastic-degrading bacteria, could be aiding this process.”
4. Indigenous-led conservation efforts match or surpass similar initiatives when properly funded, new research shows
“[…] Indigenous-led Nature-based Solutions(NbS), can be just as or even more effective at carbon storage and biodiversity conservation as conventional national and provincial parks. [… F]ederally funded Indigenous-led efforts at conserving carbon and biodiversity matched or exceeded outcomes in [conventionally] protected areas. Indigenous-led [conversation areas] saw significantly lower carbon loss between 2017 and 2020 than these other areas while keeping biodiversity levels stable, improving on pre-funding carbon trends.”
5. A Network Blooms to Connect Fiber Farmers With Fabric Artisans
“Fiber artists help with preventing waste when they attend a craft workshop at a fiber farm, where they get to see and connect with the animals whose fleece they’ve been working with. […] The organization believes clothing can heal the climate, as opposed to harming it, through managed grazing that sequesters and enriches soil; rotating cover crops and no-till agriculture that is also carbon sequestering; and natural cultivation of plants for dyes that contribute to biodiversity, soil regeneration and carbon uptake.”
December 22-28 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)
