Green Shoots

This week, Nevada is making history HERstory. And this time, it's in a good way. We now have a Rhodes Scholar!

Clarke Knight graduated from Green Valley High School in 2010. She's now a Senior at the prestigious Smith College. And soon, she plans to go to Oxford.

What's even more impressive is what Ms. Knight plans to do with her Rhodes Scholarship and Oxford education.

The 21-year-old chemistry major said she wants to deal with climate change as a scientist after attending Oxford University beginning next October. She would like to see "evidence-based" policy on climate change and the U.S. take the lead on addressing the issue, she said.

"I really hope I can continue as a hard scientist who's committed to policy, and I really hope we can rectify climate change and the problems we've caused with the environment," Knight told The Associated Press.

"I really want to be a bridge between the two cultures of science and policymakers. They need a translator and I want to be that person," she added.

In recent weeks, we've become accustomed to cutting through the manufactured crises and haute faux scandals to get to the real story. And frankly, the real story hasn't always looked encouraging.

That's why our eyebrows were raised (in a good way!) when we spotted this in the morning paper. There are many doors that have opened to Clarke Knight now that she's a Rhodes Scholar. And she wants to take the door involving climate change policy? Wow. She's brave.

And that's not all. New evidence suggests recent global climate compacts are having an impact on greenhouse gas emissions. And President Obama's executive actions promise further progress here in the US. Believe it or not, there's actually some good news to be thankful for this week.

Of course, we're still quite far from out of the woods. As we noted last week, America is one of several nations that has yet to implement robust climate action that's needed for future survival. And it doesn't help that far too many in Congress refuse to even acknowledge the reality of climate change (let alone take action).

Still, we figured these recent green shoots should be noticed. After all, it's Thanksgiving Week. And it's always nice to uncover reasons to be thankful.