It’s been a rough year to care about climate. But despite the onslaught of bad news, clean energy kept accelerating anyway. A lot has happened this year, so I pulled together 7 developments from 2025 that have made me feel genuinely hopeful. From me for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4731...

pls read my ecomodernist manifesto—we could make a massive dent in our planetary crises by reducing our dependence on the two great efficiency sinks in American life: meat and cars. And we can do so in a way that's consistent with growth and democratic principles www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Let’s fix the two massive efficiency sinks in American life. www.vox.com/future-perfe...

One of the world’s leading climate, weather, and wildfire science research institutions is being targeted for elimination in what many of those affected see as President Donald Trump’s political vendetta against Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.

The Trump administration is moving to dismantle a critically important climate research center in Colorado. Here are the implications:

It’s hard to overstate how big of a deal Trump’s move to dismantle the NCAR is. Here’s what’s at stake, via our friends at @insideclimatenews.org and @climatedesk.org Gift link: www.vox.com/climate/4727...

It's official: We'll surpass 1.5 C. This major climate target has been dead for years. This year, people are finally acknowledging it. So, what happens now? @umairfan.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4726...

Scientists just caught polar bears evolving in real time. Via @theguardian.com and @climatedesk.org www.vox.com/climate/4723... @vox.com

Dengue already kills thousands every year and by 2080, nearly 60% of the world’s population will be vulnerable. So when a company walks away from a drug w/ major promise—bcuz they won't make enough $$ from it—the stakes are much higher. @pratik-p.bsky.social/@vox.com: www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Climate risk assessments are not great if your home has a bad score, and you’re trying to sell it. Recently, under pressure from real estate groups, Zillow stopped including them. But climate risks, of course, haven’t gone away. @umairfan.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4717...

Health insurance premiums on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces are set to soar after Congress failed Thursday to pass a last-minute plan to avert the rate hikes. As many as four million people could be forced to go uninsured, because they can no longer afford their health plan.

Zillow’s own data proved that many homebuyers were starting to think more about climate change alongside square footage, and nearby schools — so much so that real estate agencies and sellers complained that climate risk scores were starting to hurt sales. voxdotcom.visitlink.me/FYM88v

Just love this story by @jkutzie.bsky.social for @19thnews.org 19thnews.org/2025/12/firs...

AI *could* make research smarter, but it could also pull us back into an era of human subjects research that was rife with abuse. Already, AI-assisted IRB review risks that our data can be used without us ever really knowing. Shayna Korol for @vox.com: www.vox.com/future-perfe...

He never receives visitors or makes phone calls, but he makes sure the birds have plenty to eat — and can fly away when it’s time.

The ACA tax credit catastrophe revealed that after a decade-plus of the ACA, Republicans are no closer to having a serious, coherent plan for fixing the US health system and lowering costs: www.vox.com/health/47196...

Are we surprised that lawmakers failed to figure out a fix for rising healthcare insurance premiums today? No, no we are not. @dylanlscott.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/health/47196...

Climate risk assessments are not great if your home has a bad score, and you’re trying to sell it. Recently, under pressure from real estate groups, Zillow stopped including them. But climate risks, of course, haven’t gone away. @umairfan.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4717...

Zillow may want to downplay climate risks, but communities like Tyrolian Village in the Lake Tahoe region show that facing climate risk head-on doesn’t tank a market — it can actually save homeowners money. @umairfan.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4717...

“We didn’t have the agriculture skills before, so people would go into the forest for charcoal,” Lalao said that morning. “But now they are working here.” 🌎 www.vox.com/climate/4676...

There are billions of dollars of data center projects currently underway in the United States, with hundreds of billions of dollars more planned. This pitch is going over great with many politicians — but it’s falling flat with a large and growing coalition of regular people.

Thank you, @benjij.bsky.social, for making me newly obsessed with this fierce little falcon 💙 Fascinating piece about the link between tenacious predators and how they not only benefit the landscape — but our food, too. Well worth a read: www.vox.com/climate/4711... @vox.com

my goal as a journalist is to report carefully on the best, most practical social policy ideas that can change the world, and this is easily the most exciting one I’ve had the opportunity to cover this year 🧵↓ www.vox.com/policy/46963...

The federal government is ending its recommendation that every infant receive a hepatitis B vaccination at birth, the most substantive change to the childhood immunization schedule yet under US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. What this means:

Do we want a vaccine policy based on vibes? Because that's what we're getting: www.vox.com/health/47136...

RFK Jr. and his hand-picked committee just made the most extreme move yet to dismantle US vaccine policy. @dylanlscott.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/health/47136...

Nice article on the value of ecosystem services provided by kestrels in Michigan's cherry orchards 🍒. Features work by @michiganstateu.bsky.social colleagues.

Thank you, @benjij.bsky.social, for making me newly obsessed with this fierce little falcon 💙 Fascinating piece about the link between tenacious predators and how they not only benefit the landscape — but our food, too. Well worth a read: www.vox.com/climate/4711... @vox.com

GLP-1s and their rising popularity is forcing a reckoning with America's shortcut culture — especially as research mounts on one major downside of use. @dylanlscott.bsky.social untangles it here in his latest @vox.com feature: www.vox.com/the-highligh...

Yesterday Trump repealed federal fuel efficiency requirements for tens of millions of new cars and light trucks. @umairfan.bsky.social explains how this and other moves are going to make owning a car more expensive for everyone. @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4672...

Horrific story, but incredible reporting by Jake Spring: www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

Vox is launching a major, multi-year editorial project, supported by a grant from @arnoldventures.bsky.social, exploring what it will take for the U.S. to restore its capacity to build — from new energy solutions, to upgrading transportation systems, to expanding the nation’s housing supply.

💥New project drop from Vox is a call to rethink our zero-sum politics and imagine an America where building more, inventing more, and including more people is how we actually make life affordable again. From powerhouse @bryanrwalsh.bsky.social and @vox.com team: www.vox.com/policy/47089...

A future built on overflowing clean energy isn’t utopian, it’s actually within our reach. And if we make it a priority to unlock cheap and abundant energy, that raises the interesting — and fun — question: What we should do with it? @umairfan.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4703...

As climate philanthropy undergoes a destabilizing shift, directing your money to the most effective, evidence-based climate organizations has never mattered more. @sigalsamuel.bsky.social @vox.com www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Cheap, clean, plentiful energy doesn’t just help people save money on their power bills; it unlocks new industries, makes thorny political problems moot, and helps repair the planet. voxdotcom.visitlink.me/Q8l4XQ

A future built on overflowing clean energy isn’t utopian, it’s actually within our reach. And if we make it a priority to unlock cheap and abundant energy, that raises the interesting — and fun — question: What we should do with it? @umairfan.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4703...

Colorado brought wolves back for the first time in 80 years, but now a few years into the historic reintroduction, many of them are dead. Restoring predators is never simple and the real test is just beginning. @benjij.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4700...

Critics argue that we lack long-term data on the effects of antidepressants on brain development. RFK Jr. is a long-time critic of the medications and has called for more research into their efficacy. He’s also made false claims linking their use to mass shootings.

Turkeys are flavorless and dry, and they want to live. This Thanksgiving, @mbolotnikova.bsky.social encourages you to challenge the status quo and embrace plant-based alternatives, have conversations about ethical food choices, and create more sustainable and compassionate traditions.

Don't miss this new @vox.com project that uncovers the rapidly changing world of fish farming. Stories from @mbolotnikova.bsky.social + team challenge everything you think you know about the billions of aquatic animals that shape our planet’s future: www.vox.com/future-perfe...

When a doctor isn’t present during a birth, there’s one essential person who can be the difference between life and death: a midwife.

Join Vox. Double your impact. 💛 This holiday season, your membership goes further: when you join Vox as an annual Member, we’ll gift a complimentary membership to a reader facing financial barriers. http://www.vox.com/support-membership

Colorado brought wolves back for the first time in 80 years, but now a few years into the historic reintroduction, many of them are dead. Restoring predators is never simple and the real test is just beginning. @benjij.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/climate/4700...

until quite recently, I had never thought much about fish, but now they're all I think about Please read my piece about FISH MINDS! the great fish pain debate, and what it tells us about science and ourselves. gift link in reply!

Broadly, humans flatten the dimension, the complexity of fish. But @mbolotnikova.bsky.social's latest story traces the contested question of whether fish feel pain and shows how the limits of our imagination shape the limits of their world. Smart piece from @vox.com www.vox.com/future-perfe...

The meat industry is finally being pushed to answer for years of misleading climate claims. New settlements against Tyson and JBS show that real accountability is possible. @kennytorrella.bsky.social for @vox.com: www.vox.com/future-perfe...

Meet the 2025 Future Perfect 25. As we began thinking of how to organize the 2025 list, we realized the most urgent story in our wheelhouse is the squeeze on foreign aid and on global health and development, which threatens to reverse some of the most important progress humanity has ever made.

A wee bit of industry news: Happy to share that I recently moved into a new role @vox.com I'll still be editing climate + biodiversity sections and will also steer our coverage of science, health, and edit stories at Future Perfect, where we explore the best frameworks to do more good in the world.

Today, @izzieramirez.bsky.social and @vox.com's Future Perfect team launched our annual list of extraordinary changemakers keeping global progress alive at a moment when foreign aid and development are under immense pressure. There's so much to be inspired by here: www.vox.com/future-perfe...