Giant rats are sniffing out illegal ivory

Giant rats in Tanzania — unlike the ones you may be familiar with from The Princess Bride or horror movies — are making the world a better place.  

These surprisingly cute critters were originally trained to sniff out landmines. Now they are busting the illegal ivory trade by sniffing out elephant ivory — and other illegally traded animal parts like pangolin scales and rhino horns — in cargo shipments as smugglers try to move them through airports and ports.  

Though still in training, the rats have already reached nearly 90% accuracy and are expected to be deployed later this year.  

A single elephant stores 2.4 tons of carbon in its body and creates another 94 tons of carbon storage in forests simply by eating, so protecting them from poachers also helps fight climate change. 

Wind and solar provide more U.S. electricity than coal 

For the first time ever, wind and solar produced more of America’s electricity than coal last year. Funding from the Inflation Reduction Act helped push solar and wind to new capacity levels.  

The good news is global, too.  

Low-carbon sources, renewable energy and nuclear power provided 40.9% of the world’s energy in 2024, also an all-time high.  

New York’s congestion pricing is working 

Bad news for the haters; good news for New Yorkers: New York City’s congestion pricing plan not only remains in effect, it’s working. Travel times have decreased. Buses are running faster. And more foot traffic is creating a boom for shops. Retail sales in the zone are on pace to be $900 million higher in 2025 compared to last year. 

While the plan has faced multiple legal challenges and an attack from the Trump administration, data shows the policy is working as intended. It has already raised more than $100 million to improve the city’s public transit system and almost 6 million fewer vehicles have entered the congestion zone in southern Manhattan, creating less traffic and cleaner air.