Good news on ‘hopescrolling,’ humanitarian action, renewable energy

Fix the News begins this edition with this: “One of our readers is Professor Jennifer Mercieca, who teaches communication and journalism at Texas A&M. She recently ran an experiment with her students that we think you’ll find fascinating.”

Well, I do find it fascinating and commend it to your attention.

As far as items in Fix the News’ section requiring a subscription:

— “Since 2022, UN-managed funds have channelled over $500 million to Ukrainian civil society, enabling local NGOs to evacuate six million people, deliver food and shelter, and sustain frontline services,” says Fix the News, citing a ReliefWeb article. “This is impressive both in and of itself and because it’s really hard to coordinate multiple donors and NGOs in a protracted crisis, and in Ukraine it’s actually gone very well. This means we (‘we’ being ‘humanity’) now have a new template for future humanitarian responses.”

— “Renewables now beat fossil gas on price almost everywhere, and it’s not going to get any easier for ‘carbonists,’” says Fix the News. More than 90 percent of last year’s new global renewable energy capacity was less expensive than a fossil fuel alternative, reports the non-profit Rocky Mountain Institute.

— A decade ago, solar power was nearly non-existent in Hungary, says Our World in Data. Now, solar supplies a quarter of the country’s electrical power. And in 2024, it overtook natural gas to become the second-largest source of electricity, after nuclear.