New data released this week shows that in May, for the first time ever, solar supplied more of the nation’s electricity than coal, or 12.8 percent, while Coal supplied 12.2 percent, its fourth-lowest monthly share ever.
Data also revealed that solar became the third-largest source of electricity in the U.S. in May, behind natural gas and nuclear.
French Polynesia announced the creation of the world’s largest Marine Protected Area (MPA), at the U.N. Ocean Conference in France this week.
The MPA will cover the entirety of the country's exclusive economic zone (more than 1.9 million square miles) and will restrict extractive practices like deep-sea mining and bottom-trawling, a destructive type of fishing that drags large nets along the seafloor. Of that 1.9 million square miles, 424,712 square miles will be designated as a highly or fully protected area, known as class 1 and 2, where only traditional coastal fishing, ecotourism, and scientific exploration, will be allowed.
The government also pledged to add an additional 193,051 square miles to the highly protected area by World Ocean Day 2026.
The New Zealand government announced the establishment of five new marine reserves along the Otago coast, marking the country’s first new marine sanctuaries in over a decade.
The newly designated network, which encompasses 308 square-kilometers, increases mainland New Zealand’s total marine reserve coverage by nearly 50 percent. The reserves will officially take effect on July 1, 2026.
The protected coastal waters boast highly diverse habitats, including giant kelp forests, rocky reefs, steep offshore canyons, and fragile deepwater coral communities. These areas serve as vital breeding and feeding grounds for several globally threatened and iconic species. Among them are the yellow-eyed penguin, New Zealand sea lion, and albatross.
The One Childhood, One Chance Alliance – made up of Save the Children, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), UNICEF, Action Against Hunger, ALIMA, The ELMA Relief Foundation and others – announced a new $500 commitment to fight child malnutrition in the world’s largest humanitarian areas.
The alliance aims to reach at least five million children with life-saving nutrition treatment and services.
The Jersey City Council unanimously approved (9-0) a resolution this week to divest from Citizens Bank over their funding of private prisons.
Citizens Bank has provided roughly $2.5 billion towards ICE detention centers in New Jersey.
“This is the least we can do as a city to make sure we’re not financially complicit with the financing of [Delaney Hall],” Ward D Councilman Jake Ephros said.
In a bipartisan vote, the House of Representatives passed the Faster Labor Contracts Act (FLCA).
The bill aims to amend the National Labor Relations Act to require employers to bargain with newly organized workers within 10 days of voting to form their union. The bill also provides a path to mediation if no agreement is reached within 90 days and a referral to arbitration to ensure first contracts can be fairly resolved.
Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien called the FLCA “the most consequential labor bill to come before Congress in decades.”
Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced this week that it will launch a pilot program in July to provide free public menstrual products through more than 700 dispensers installed across 12 local governments nationwide.
The initiative, branded “Pads for Everyone,” aims to expand access to menstrual products beyond the government's existing voucher program for vulnerable adolescents and make the products more readily available in public spaces.
In what is the largest percentage reduction in deforestation ever recorded in the region, deforestation of the Amazon rainforest declined by 61 percent in May.
Brazil’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Joao Paulo Capobianco, described the reduction as a milestone, as deforestation is known to typically increase during the month of May.
From August 2025 to May 2026, deforestation fell by 37.5 percent compared to August 2024 to May 2025.
Philadelphia City Council voted to approve legislation banning horse-drawn carriages from operating in the city. Councilmember Mark Squilla, who introduced the bill, and animal welfare advocates had been working to ban the practice for several years before Thursday’s vote.
The ban will take effect once Mayor Cherelle Parker signs it into law.
A roundup of the courts actually doing something right this week:
A judge ruled that Alabama’s nitrogen gas executions constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
A judge in New Mexico dismissed a legal challenge to the state’s universal childcare program.
A judge ordered Trump officials to re-install signs and exhibits at national parks on topics like slavery and climate change.
A federal judge temporarily blocked the city of Phoenix from blocking a church group from helping unhoused people at parks in the city.
A judge ruled that Trump’s $100K fee for H-1B visas is unlawful.
A federal judge indefinitely blocked Trump’s $1.8 billion payout fund.
“What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something.” – Howard Zinn
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