
21 February 2024
Agents of Change: 2022-2023 Cohort
Read the ideas and solutions from our fourth cohort.
Read the ideas and solutions from our fourth cohort.
In Finland and Sweden, tech giants are turning energy-hungry data centers into unlikely allies in the fight against carbon emissions by piping their waste heat into homes.
Lars Paulsson, Kari Lundgren, and Kati Pohjanpalo report for Bloomberg.
In short:
Key quote:
“These data centers are actually big fans, allowing electricity to be converted cheaply into heat.”
— Kai Mykkanen, mayor of Espoo and former Finnish climate minister
Why this matters:
The world wants clean air and fast data. People demand carbon cuts but can’t stop streaming. This partnership between Big Tech and Nordic district heating gives us a glimpse at how we might survive our own contradictions. Waste heat reuse doesn’t erase the environmental cost of energy-hungry data centers, but it softens the blow. However, plenty of data centers still dump their excess heat, and the industry’s energy appetite is ballooning fast — raising red flags in countries already nearing their grid limits.
Read more:
In a Nashville shop where donated yarn, paper, and paints pile high, artists and adults with disabilities are building a thriving, waste-cutting creative community.
In short:
Key quote:
“We are leveraging art and leveraging creativity, really, to impact a population that needs our support.”
— Kyle Graden, senior operations manager at Smart
Why this matters:
These reuse centers tackle two big problems at once: waste and exclusion. By reducing landfill-bound trash and offering inclusive employment, they show how community-driven innovation can support both environmental health and human dignity. Nationwide, places like SCRAP and other reuse hubs are proving that waste reduction can be personal, joyful, and deeply human.
Read more: Zero- and low-waste businesses band together against plastic pollution
After wildfires tore through Los Angeles in January, attention has turned to a radically simple idea: homes built from the earth beneath our feet.
In short:
Key quote:
“The [fires] we are seeing are more catastrophic, in much more severe conditions. We need to enter into a new philosophy of actually having construction that is fire resilient and not just ignition resistant.”
— Michele Barbato, co-director of the Climate Adaptation Research Center, University of California, Davis
Why this matters:
As climate-fueled wildfires become more intense, building homes that can survive extreme heat and embers is increasingly urgent. SuperAdobe offers a tested, low-carbon solution. So why aren’t more people living in dirt domes? Blame bureaucracy, outdated building codes, and a construction industry addicted to drywall and debt. It turns out that when the air burns and the ground shakes, time-tested wisdom might just hold the key to protecting homes.
Read more: Disaster by choice: The need to create a culture of warning and safety
A rural Oregon community is battling the expansion of one of the state’s largest landfills, raising alarms over methane leaks, PFAS pollution, and a waste industry built to bury accountability.
In short:
Key quote:
“I didn’t know whistleblowing brought on a kind of PTSD. You have the photos, the emails, and still you’re getting gaslit, they’re saying, ‘No, these things aren’t happening.’ Sitting around waiting for an unemployment check, you start questioning yourself. It’s just hellish.”
— Robert Orton, former landfill heavy equipment mechanic and whistleblower
Why this matters:
Leaking methane, seeping PFAS, and bleeding public trust, the Coffin Butte Landfill is emblematic of a system that’s been eroding under the weight of deregulation and corporate convenience. As climate risks grow and federal protections contract, local fights like this one are shaping the future of waste management and who bears the cost.
Read more: Pollution from a Pennsylvania landfill caused problems for decades. Fracking waste made it worse
San Francisco's transformation of a scenic highway into a car-free oceanfront park has sparked celebration and controversy, reshaping public space and local politics.
In short:
Key quote:
“There’s a great opportunity to integrate both the coastline and the neighborhood. There’s got to be a balance between leaning into nature and leaning into how people use this space.”
— Phil Ginsburg, general manager, SF Recreation and Parks
Why this matters:
San Francisco has pulled off a rare feat in modern American city planning. Reclaiming roads for parks can improve mental and physical health, reduce car pollution, and foster community. But the backlash and resulting political uproar shows how tricky it is to untangle car-centric infrastructure from daily life. Still, there's an inevitability to this road's closure: Sea level rise and the resulting erosion was responsible for the decision to permanently close one stretch of the highway, and that's a problem that will only grow as time passes.
Read more:
Insects are vanishing from even the most protected ecosystems on Earth, and scientists say climate change is now the main culprit.
In short:
Key quote:
“We’re talking about nearly half the tree of life disappearing in one human lifetime. That is absolutely catastrophic.”
— David Wagner, entomologist
Why this matters:
Deep in Costa Rica’s forests, decades of data now reveal a terrible silence: moths, beetles, ants, and the whole chorus of six-legged life are fading away. It’s the heat, drying the forest from the bottom up. Insects are the foundation of ecosystems, and their crash threatens food webs, biodiversity, and even human survival. Half of all known species are insects. They pollinate crops, aerate soil, and feed nearly everything. Combined with the threats insects face globally from pollution and development, the warming climate creates grave risks for these small but mighty creatures on which so many of our human systems depend.
Read more: Silent Earth: Averting the insect apocalypse
The White House’s new “gold standard science” order would give political appointees power to rewrite, reject, or discipline research they don’t like.
In short:
Key quote:
“What’s being demanded here is an unwinding of scientific integrity policies, under the misleading name of ‘Gold Standard Science,’ to serve the values and priorities of the current administration.”
— Union of Concerned Scientists
Why this matters:
On the surface, this May 23 executive order sounds noble: restore the “gold standard” of science. But dig just a little, and there's a mechanism that allows partisan operatives to reject, rewrite, or “correct” federal studies — including those on climate change, pollution, pandemic preparedness, and racial health disparities — without peer review. Think less Apollo moonshot, more Orwellian Ministry of Truth.
Read more:
One facility has emitted cancer-causing chemicals into waterways at levels up to 520% higher than legal limits.
“They're terrorizing these scientists because they want to keep them silent.”
"The reality is, we are not exposed to one chemical at a time.”
A new report assesses the administration’s progress and makes new recommendations
“We cannot stand by and allow this to happen. We need to hold this administration accountable.”
“The chemical black box” that blankets wildfire-impacted areas is increasingly under scrutiny.