good stuff...

🏀 The numbers are in: the NCAA women’s basketball championship between UConn and South Carolina was the third most-watched final of all time. The men’s final between Florida and Houston was the most-watched since 2019.

🩺 As the threat of Medicaid cuts looms, Alabama lawmakers unanimously passed legislation that would expand Medicaid coverage for pregnant people. While it still has to be signed by the governor, the aim is to help address the state’s devastatingly high maternal mortality rates.

Clean energy

Clean energy powered over 40% of global electricity in 2024 for the first time since the 1940s

In the 1940s, the power system was about 50 times smaller than it is today. That was the last time clean energy surpassed 40% of global electricity — like it just did in 2024.

Similar to the 1940s, though, that milestone was made up largely by hydropower, one of the oldest renewable energy technologies, which made up 14% of global electricity.

And while solar only made up 7% of global electricity, it had a significant hand in the benchmark, too, since its capacity has doubled in the last three years and it’s been the world’s fastest-growing source of energy for the last 20 years.

What’s the nuance? Experts had hoped that global energy use would peak in 2023, but the global power sector grew by 1.6% last year, and that may continue as a result of increased use of artificial intelligence, data centers, electric vehicles, heat pumps, and more.

Still, experts and the data show that renewables are up for the challenge, and fossil fuels are not a part of that future.

→ Read more​

More Good News

​New data shows the New England Aquarium’s rehabilitation program is helping injured sea turtles survive — and thrive — in the wild. The aquarium’s hospital has admitted over 500 turtles in just the past three years, and its efforts are especially important for loggerhead sea turtle populations, which are in decline.

​Japan’s groundbreaking stem cell treatment helped paralyzed patients regain movement, and it could forever change paralysis treatment. The treatment specifically looked at spinal cord injuries, which pose significant challenges because the spinal cord is responsible for transmitting messages between the brain and body.

​Trans-led organizations are helping build better, safer housing solutions for trans people in the U.S. Nearly one in three trans people have experienced homelessness in their lifetime, and data indicates that both homelessness and housing instability have dramatically risen in recent years among trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people.

Interesting story

Lucasfilm on AI: ‘We need to use these tools thoughtfully and with the full permission of the talent’

→ Read more​

People doing good

A man went viral after nobody showed up to his community beach cleanup — a week later, over 30 neighbors came to help

On March 30, a teacher in Vancouver posted a video holding a bucket and trash pickup sticks, waiting for people to arrive at a beach cleanup he’d organized. Nobody showed — and a heart-wrenching false alarm was even caught on camera.

But instead of calling it quits, Michael Harvey stuck it out, documenting his slow-and-steady approach to cleaning up litter along the driftwood-dotted sands of Kitsilano.

Videos of his solo endeavor went viral on social media, with many praising his efforts to make a difference. Harvey organized another pickup one week later, and this time, more than 30 neighbors showed up in the pouring rain to join him.

→ Read more

More Good bits

The Good Store is doing $10 million worth of good in the world! (Instagram)

(Psssst ... we’re big fans of the Good Store! You can read more about the incredible work they’re doing here.)

Good news for all the middle children.

Trans women belong in sports. Case in point: the Lady Ballers. (Instagram Reels)

Time for a little biodegradable self-care.​

Donating blood is so metal.

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What’s good?

That beach cleanup redemption story made me tear up when I read it!

Which story did you like best today?

Reply to this email and let me know!

— Megan