5 reasons to be hopeful: Big environmental wins in 2024
2024 was probably not the year you decided to become an environmental optimist. Global temperatures reached the highest point in human history, and the incoming Trump administration has made clear that it seeks to dismantle climate progress and environmental protection.
But the truth is, there was a lot of progress flying under the radar this year and sometimes flying high above it.
Much of this progress has been decades in the making. Which shows that even now, with the right effort, ingenuity, persistence and some good old market forces, we can still get where we need to go.
Clean, abundant solar energy keeps getting cheaper
In most places around the world, the cost of solar panels has dropped so low that clean, limitless solar power is the cheapest form of new electricity. In the last 10 years alone, the average global price of solar panels has dropped by an awe-inducing 90%. As a result, the world is now producing enough solar energy to power one billion homes, according to the Global Solar Council.
These prices are expected to keep falling, dropping an additional 50% between now and 2030. Add to that the plummeting cost of batteries that store excess solar energy and let it back onto the grid when the sun isn’t shining, and solar is becoming a seamless source of clean energy worldwide.
For decades, generating electric power from fossil fuels has been the world’s largest source of climate pollution. Now, purely for economic reasons, solar — not dirty coal or gas — is often the go-to source for new electric generation. For everyone wanting cleaner air to breathe and a safer climate for the kids, that’s some seriously good news.
Clean cars are on roll
This year, 20% of the new cars sold worldwide were clean, electric vehicles that produce zero tailpipe pollution. In China, the world’s largest auto market, EVs were responsible for about 50% of new car sales.
Here in the U.S., clean car sales could reach or even top 10% by year-end.
All these new, clean vehicles on the roads are already making a difference. Electric cars are now cheaper to own and operate in 48 out of 50 states, according to automotive experts at J.D. Power.
Automakers are handily meeting clean car standards, according to EPA data, improving fuel economy and reducing pollution across the U.S. fleet.
It’s not just cars — sales of electric trucks skyrocketed in the U.S. in 2024. And nearly 5,000 electric school buses are on U.S. roads this year, giving hundreds of thousands of kids a clean ride to school.
MethaneSAT puts a pollution-hunting eye in the sky
Methane, the main component in dirty “natural” gas, is a powerful climate pollutant responsible for about 30% of today’s global warming.
Cutting methane pollution from the oil and gas industry is the fastest way to slow climate change now. But locating and tracking this invisible pollution from oil and gas producing regions around the world is no simple task.
Now MethaneSAT, a methane-detecting satellite developed by Environmental Defense Fund and partners that launched this year, is helping address this problem. The satellite can locate and measure methane pollution and alert companies, governments and the public to problem areas — and track if the pollution is being addressed. Early images and data released this fall show the satellite is performing well. MethaneSAT’s full, regular flow of data is expected to become available to the public in early 2025.
With MethaneSAT, “We’re going to have radical transparency,” says EDF Chief Scientist Steven Hamburg. “For greenhouse gases, that is completely different than anything we’ve ever had before.”
Other countries are still in the climate fight
This year’s U.N. climate summit left much undone, but it was not without bright spots. A sizeable coalition of countries, including Canada, the U.K., Mexico and Norway, as well as the European Union and its 27 member states, all pledged to set new targets to further reduce their climate pollution, in keeping with the most ambitious global targets.
"What I heard was a steely resolve," says EDF President Fred Krupp, who attended the summit. “Other nations are determined to step in and lead the fight for a safer climate if the U.S. does step back.”
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Voters support Washington state climate law — other states are eyeing a similar model
In 2021, the Evergreen State enacted a landmark law that limits the amount of climate pollution Washington’s largest industries can release into our already overloaded atmosphere. The program then requires these polluters to pay a price for the pollution they release and invests the proceeds — more than $2 billion already — in public transit, clean school buses, solar energy, forest-fire prevention and other efforts to address climate change. By careful design, one-third of the funding supports communities overburdened by pollution.
This year, a multimillionaire spearheaded an effort to overturn the law through a ballot initiative. His organization even offered gas-car drivers in places like Spokane and Yakima discounts on gasoline as a publicity stunt.
But voters weren’t fooled. On election day, 62% supported the program. Now, Washington’s legislation is being eyed as a model by at least three other states — Maryland, New York and Pennsylvania.
Says Krupp, “We’re hopeful that other states will take a page out of the Evergreen State’s book now that bold action on climate is not only possible — it's popular.”
Hope for a warming planet
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