In 2025, Moms members and website readers turned to us to make sense of the day’s copious climate headlines—whether the rise of AI data centers, climate change’s appearance during the Super Bowl, or Elon Musk’s notable rise and implosion. But they also visited us to figure out how best to protect kids from chemicals in plastics and how to talk to them about climate change at a moment when climate action is under attack. Here are seven of the articles that resonated most with our audience this year.
Tell Congress: Hold Zeldin Accountable for Corrupting EPA’s Mission
1. Ask Mom Detective: Are Polyester and Polypropylene Rugs a Safe Choice for My Family?
Our monthly Mom Detective series is our most popular, and readers, you can submit questions about toxic chemicals in your home, air and climate concerns in your neighborhood, and all their hidden health risks for families for a future column.
This year, the top Mom Detective Q&A was about the safety and potential hazards of polyester and polypropylene rugs. Spoiler alert: hidden chemical treatments, microplastics, and volatile organic compounds mean these rugs might not be the best options for your family. Other popular Mom Detective Q&As that demystified environmental parenting concerns this year included Is Silicone Safe for Baking? and Are Plastic Water Bottles Safe?
2. “Protect What We Love”: At the Katrina Super Bowl, the First Ever Climate Ad Plea for Immediate Action
Super Bowl ads are notorious for making headlines, and this February, millions watched the event’s first-ever climate commercial. The spot was produced by Science Moms, a nonprofit group of moms and climate scientists. Our take on the ad, “Protect What We Love”: At the Katrina Super Bowl, the First Ever Climate Ad Plea for Immediate Action,” resonated with readers seeking to put the message in context. Especially as it aired in the opening weeks of a new administration just beginning to pull every lever it could to unwind federal climate protections.
3. Technology and Climate Change series
As AI use continues to grow, data center projects are popping up across the country to accommodate the increasing demand. In early 2025, Moms launched an AI article series centered on the health, environmental, and justice impacts of these data centers, which struck a chord with a public anxious to learn more. The first article, A Memphis Community’s Clean Air Battle With Elon Musk’s xAI Supercomputer, told the story of the historically Black Boxtown neighborhood’s fight against xAI’s Colossus facility and its 15 then-unpermitted, highly polluting gas combustion turbines. The second article, Largest Concentration of Data Centers in the World Is Decimating Energy Progress in Virginia, followed in April. It tells the story of Loudoun County, which is dotted with about 200 of these massive facilities, straining the grid and leading to a surge in new and expanded gas plant projects across the state. Look for more in 2026.
4. Recycling Plastics Doesn’t Work
Last year, we published a three-part series breaking down plastics recycling, its environmental and health impacts, and potential solutions to the plastics pollution crisis. The articles continued to resonate in 2025. The plastics industry has been spouting the gospel of recycling for decades, but in part 1 of the series, Recycling Plastics Doesn’t Work, Moms unpacks a groundbreaking 2024 report by the Center for Climate Integrity that shows that plastics recycling may actually do more harm than good.
5. Children’s Books to Inspire Climate Hope and Action
As EPA attempted to roll back a staggering number of federal environmental protections, many parents looking for ways to ease climate worry and instill hope in their children amid the chaos gravitated toward our list of Children’s Books to Inspire Climate Hope and Action. From picture books that encourage action to chapter books that support kids with eco-anxiety to a collection of short climate fiction for teens, there’s a little something for everyone on this list. Maybe even you.
6. The Hidden Dangers of Living Near a Landfill
Chelsea Lyons, a Moms member living just three miles from a landfill in North Carolina, shared her personal experience in our sixth most popular article of 2025: The Hidden Dangers of Living Near a Landfill. Landfills are the third-largest source of climate-warming methane pollution in the U.S. They also release cancer-causing benzene and vinyl chloride, plus PFAS “forever chemicals” and pollutants that can combine with heat to cause the powerful lung irritant ozone pollution. Chelsea’s story serves as a reminder that landfill pollution affects us all, even if it isn’t visible—and highlights the power of personal storytelling when it comes to climate action.
7. “Elon Ate My Cat”: A Reformed Musk Fanboy on Tesla’s Plunging Car Sales
Tesla CEO Elon Musk spent the first half of 2025 endorsing and defending Trump, despite the President’s efforts to gut federal electric vehicle rebates. He also terrorized staff at federal government agencies that oversee environmental protections, like EPA. As a result, his car sales took a big hit. We dove into his motives and contradictions in “Elon Ate My Cat”: A Reformed Musk Fanboy on Tesla’s Plunging Car Sales, and readers couldn’t get enough.
We are expecting more dangerous EPA roll backs and more wild climate headlines in 2026. Rest assured that Moms will continue to weigh in on the year’s most pressing air pollution and climate-related stories. Join us by signing one (or all!) of our petitions calling on Congress, EPA, or your governor to stand up for robust environmental protections that safeguard our families’ health.
Tell Congress: Hold Zeldin Accountable for Corrupting EPA’s Mission