For climate advocates, 2025 looked bleak with hard-earned gains over many years dismantled in a matter of months. Congress rolled back clean energy tax credits. The president blocked and continues to block wind and solar projects. States are retreating from emissions goals. Climate change has a ll but disappeared from the national discourse. “Affordability” is the new watchword, as demand for electricity surges and prices rise. Major environmental groups seem resigned to waiting out the political cycle — hoping for the next Democratic administration before re-engaging. That is a mistake.  There is progress to celebrate and work to be done. As we look forward, here are four reasons to make 2026 the year of Joy for climate work.  Reason 1: Progress didn’t stop —it just got quieter. Despite the political whiplash, meaningful climate progress quietly continued. Global clean-energy investments reached $2.2 trillion last year — the highest level on record and roughly double the amount invested in fossil fuels. Renewable energy capacity grew by nearly 30% between 2023 and 2025, keeping the world on track to meet the international goal of tripling clean power by 2030. Battery storage prices fell by a record amount in 2025, accelerating adoption and lowering costs across the energy system. Coal generation in China declined as the growth of clean energy outpaced new electricity demand. Across the globe, growing electricity demand from data centers to AI has intensified interest in renewables and clean power that are fast to deploy and increasingly affordable. Progress didn’t stop in 2025. It simply stopped being the loudest story. Reason 2: There is real opportunity in any political climate. There is plenty of opportunity for good work, regardless of who holds power. At the federal level, the most important policy is permitting reform. More than 95% of new energy projects awaiting permits are for solar, wind and battery storage. There is a bipartisan consensus that the permitting process can be improved to protect the environment while cutting unnecessary delays. At the state level, the Utah legislative session has wrapped up. There were good bills passed to speed clean energy deployment, reduce air pollution, and restore the Great Salt Lake. Learn more about those bills and how to contact your legislators at climateutah.org. Reason 3: This work is about building something better. At its core, climate work is an act of creation. It’s designing new energy systems, rethinking how our homes and communities are built, inventing tools that help people adapt and thrive, and imagining futures that are healthier, safer and more abundant than what we have today. While some are focused on tearing down, blocking, or slowing progress, our generation gets to be the ones building. That matters. It’s energizing work. It’s human work. And it’s deeply meaningful.  Very few generations get the chance to redesign the backbone of an economy or reshape systems that will last for decades. Ours does. No one ever said this would be easy, but there is real joy in getting to dream, design and build a future that works better for more people. Being born into this moment isn’t just a burden — it’s an opportunity to be among the most important problem-solvers of our time. Reason 4: Joy isn’t naive. It is how movements grow.  When we talk about climate work only as sacrifice, struggle and hardship, we shrink our own movement. Many people simply can’t take on another hard thing, no matter how important it is. But almost everyone could use more hope, agency and joy.  Framing climate work as creative, life-improving and opportunity-filled invites more people in — and we need all of them. Joy doesn’t mean ignoring loss or pretending the stakes aren’t high. It means refusing to let despair be the organizing principle. The truth is, climate solutions increasingly align with what people want: more affordable energy, healthier homes, safer communities and more control over their futures. A movement built on joy, creativity and abundance is stronger, more resilient and far more likely to win. So let 2026 be the year we show up. Show up for conversations that replace despair with joy. Call your legislators. Vote. This is our chance to start telling a new story. Tom Moyer and Bethany Kanten Park City The post Reasons for joy appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less