Foundations
Here's a look at documents from U.S. foundations
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ONE+ Program Provides Financial Assistance to Over 250 First-time Homebuyers in Mass.
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Dec. 5 (TNSrpt) -- The Boston Foundation issued the following news release on Dec. 4, 2025:
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ONE+ Program provides financial assistance to over 250 first-time homebuyers in Mass.
Program distributes over $8 million in first year; more planned for 2026
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The ONE+ Program has unlocked homeownership opportunities for well over 200 families in its first year, according to a new report released by the Boston Foundation today. Led by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) and with the support of the Boston Foundation and partners including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,
... Show Full Article
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Dec. 5 (TNSrpt) -- The Boston Foundation issued the following news release on Dec. 4, 2025:
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ONE+ Program provides financial assistance to over 250 first-time homebuyers in Mass.
Program distributes over $8 million in first year; more planned for 2026
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The ONE+ Program has unlocked homeownership opportunities for well over 200 families in its first year, according to a new report released by the Boston Foundation today. Led by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP) and with the support of the Boston Foundation and partners including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,Eastern Bank Foundation, State Street Foundation, and Barr Foundation, the ONE+ Program provides an affordable mortgage product--alongside up to $50,000 in down payment assistance, closing costs support, and interest rate buy-downs--to low- and moderate-income first-time homebuyers from one of 29 eligible Massachusetts communities.
Launched in November 2024, the program has supported 255 prospective homebuyers, providing over $8 million in support in its first year. ONE+ homebuyers were able to purchase single-family homes, condominiums, or multifamily homes in dozens of communities across Massachusetts.
The ONE+ Program was the first programmatic investment of the Racial Wealth Gap Partnership, a coalition of more than 40 cross-sector organizations working to expand wealth in underrepresented and historically marginalized communities through homeownership. The group's research suggests a $25 million investment in financial assistance for at least 500 homebuyers could result in $150 million or more in wealth accumulation via home equity over 10 years.
"The ONE+ Program has done exactly what we hoped when we made down payment assistance the Partnership's first programmatic focus for creating intergenerational wealth in our community," said Lee Pelton, President and CEO of the Boston Foundation, which convened the Racial Wealth Gap Partnership. "The success of the Wealth Gap Partnership's investment is not only measured in the home purchases ONE+ has made possible, but in the powerful stories we have heard from homeowners whose entire family trajectories have been shifted by achieving the long-deferred dream of homeownership."
The report, entitled A New Path to Homeownership: Early Findings from the ONE+ Mortgage Program, brings together data from the program's first 11 months and a series of interviews with ONE+ borrowers about their experiences with the program and the homebuying process in general.
"We are in one of the most challenging home purchase markets in decades," said MHP Homeownership Director Elliot Schmiedl. "For too many prospective first-time homebuyers, getting the keys to their first home is only a dream, or they end up using every dime they have for a down payment. MHP is pleased to partner with lenders and organizations to deliver another innovative financing solution that's putting homeownership within reach for hundreds of families who would otherwise be priced out of the market and putting them on the road to building generational wealth."
"Homeownership is a gamechanger for creating a pathway to a thriving life, and we are proud to see the ONE+ Mortgage Program and the Massachusetts Housing Partnership making meaningful inroads for first-time homebuyers across Gateway Cities like Lynn, Lawrence and Lowell. We need to take a regional approach to successfully close historical wealth gaps," said Turahn Dorsey, President & Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Bank Foundation, which provided funding to support first-time homebuyers in those three communities.
Read the Boston Indicators Report (https://www.bostonindicators.org/reports/report-detail-pages/one-plus-review)
Boston Indicators report highlights opportunities created statewide for lower-income households across racial groups
Researchers from Boston Indicators, the research center at the Boston Foundation, compiled data from the first 11 months of the ONE+ program, along with interviews with program participants, for the report A New Path to Homeownership: Early Findings from the ONE+ Mortgage Program.
The report data illustrate the success of supporting home purchases for families with incomes at or below their area's median income who have demonstrated sufficient financial stability to manage ongoing mortgage costs. Borrowers using ONE+ had an average credit score of 733, and used the program to secure homes with an average purchase price of $433,725. Program participants purchased a mix of condominiums, single-family, and multifamily homes.
The participating households through October 2025 had incomes below their area's median income for their household size, with 44 percent earning below 80% of the AMI. While a majority of those taking part in the program identified as Latino or Hispanic, participants were from a full range of racial groups. "I honestly never thought that I was going to be a homeowner," one participant said in follow-up interviews with the Boston Indicators team. "Of course, it was in my dreams, but I never really thought I could make it a reality."
Among the striking elements of the program data was the geographical spread of where the participants purchased their homes. While the largest number of program homebuyers purchased their new homes in cities like Springfield, New Bedford, Lawrence, Lowell, Lynn and Fall River, ONE+ homebuyers found new homes in well over 60 communities across Massachusetts. As one participant noted, "I was looking to live in Boston, just because it was a lot closer to work and to family.... I ended up being a little more flexible."
Twenty-three lenders from across Massachusetts have participated in the ONE+ program to date, including: BankFive, Bay State Savings Bank, Berkshire Bank, Brookline Bank, Cambridge Savings, Citizens Banks, Cornerstone Bank, Dedham Institution for Savings, East Cambridge Savings, Eastern Bank, Freedom Credit Union, Hometown Mortgage, Institution for Savings, Leader Bank, M&T Bank, Mechanics Cooperative Bank, Needham Bank, Northern Bank & Trust Company, Rockland Trust, St. Mary's Credit Union, The Cooperative Bank, Webster Bank, and Webster Five Cents Savings Bank.
To learn more about ONE+ or find a participating lender, visit https://www.mhp.net/one-mortgage/programs-2/one-plus
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REPORT: https://www.bostonindicators.org/-/media/indicators/boston-indicators-reports/report-files/bi_oneplus_120125.pdf
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Original text here: https://www.tbf.org/news-and-insights/press-releases/2025/december/oneplus-program-success-update
Child Poverty Strategy Marks Progress, But Must Go Further
LONDON, England, Dec. 5 -- The Health Foundation posted the following news release on Dec. 4, 2025:
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Child Poverty Strategy marks progress, but must go further
Responding to the publication of the Child Poverty Strategy, Amrik Arshi, Senior Economist in the Healthy Lives Team at the Health Foundation, said:
'We welcome this long-awaited strategy, which outlines actions to boost family incomes, reduce the cost of essentials and begin to tackle the problem of too many children living in health-damaging temporary accommodation.
'Tackling child poverty is a prescription for good health
... Show Full Article
LONDON, England, Dec. 5 -- The Health Foundation posted the following news release on Dec. 4, 2025:
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Child Poverty Strategy marks progress, but must go further
Responding to the publication of the Child Poverty Strategy, Amrik Arshi, Senior Economist in the Healthy Lives Team at the Health Foundation, said:
'We welcome this long-awaited strategy, which outlines actions to boost family incomes, reduce the cost of essentials and begin to tackle the problem of too many children living in health-damaging temporary accommodation.
'Tackling child poverty is a prescription for good healthand reduced inequalities - with our health and wellbeing being built from our earliest years. The lifting of the two-child limit on Universal Credit was an important step to alleviate poverty now. But the strategy must deliver on a preventative approach that tackles the deep structural causes of poverty. Only then will we ensure that every child - now and in the future - has the opportunity to grow up with security and to thrive.'
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Original text here: https://www.health.org.uk/press-office/press-releases/child-poverty-strategy-marks-progress-but-must-go-further
Viking Corporation Employee Slams Steelworkers Union With Federal Charges for "Closed Shop" Firing Threats
SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, Dec. 4 -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation posted the following news release:
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Viking Corporation Employee Slams Steelworkers Union With Federal Charges for "Closed Shop" Firing Threats
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Charge: Steelworkers officials' unlawful dues scheme to automatically deduct money from worker paychecks to support union politicking
Hastings, MI (December 4, 2025) - Kristen Dickinson, an employee of fire sprinkler manufacturer The Viking Corporation, has just hit the Steelworkers union at her workplace with federal unfair labor practice charges. Dickinson
... Show Full Article
SPRINGFIELD, Virginia, Dec. 4 -- The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation posted the following news release:
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Viking Corporation Employee Slams Steelworkers Union With Federal Charges for "Closed Shop" Firing Threats
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Charge: Steelworkers officials' unlawful dues scheme to automatically deduct money from worker paychecks to support union politicking
Hastings, MI (December 4, 2025) - Kristen Dickinson, an employee of fire sprinkler manufacturer The Viking Corporation, has just hit the Steelworkers union at her workplace with federal unfair labor practice charges. Dickinsonfiled her charges at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with free legal aid from National Right to Work Foundation staff attorneys.
The charges detail that Steelworkers union officials are unlawfully characterizing Viking as a "closed shop," where formal union membership is required to avoid termination. The charges further state that union bosses are mandating direct dues deductions from workers' paychecks as a condition of staying employed.
The NLRB is the federal agency responsible for adjudicating federal labor law, a task that includes adjudicating disputes between employers, union officials, and individual employees. Although the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) permits union officials in states without Right to Work protections (like Michigan) to enforce contracts that require workers to pay union fees or be fired, U.S. Supreme Court cases like General Motors v. NLRB ban "closed shop" arrangements where formal membership is required to work. Another Supreme Court case, the Foundation-won CWA v. Beck ruling, also established that union bosses can't compel workers who abstain from formal membership into paying dues for union political expenses.
Federal labor law also forbids requiring workers to authorize direct paycheck deduction of union dues or fees. This means that even when some forced fees can be required, workers retain the option to pay by other methods, like via mailed check. Up until February 2024, Michigan was a Right to Work state, in which all union financial support was the voluntary choice of each individual worker.
Requiring Formal Union Membership Is Still Illegal, Even in Non-Right to Work Michigan
"Steelworkers union bosses are just interested in gaining more power over us and our pocketbooks," commented Dickinson. "If they really believe they are doing right by us, they shouldn't feel the need to force everybody to join or trick people into supporting the union's politics, yet that's exactly what they're doing."
Dickinson's charges recount that union officials began circulating documents among workers in August, giving them September deadlines to turn in union "checkoff" authorization cards that would permit direct dues deductions from their paychecks. The union documents alleged that workers had to do this "to be in compliance with new contractual closed shop language" (emphasis added).
When Dickinson emailed a Viking HR representative for clarification on her obligations, the HR rep claimed that "Per the new Michigan [Right to Work repeal] law and the Contract...those employees who do not sign the check-off authorization card, will not be allowed to work at Viking." Dickinson's charges include a charge against Viking management for repeating the misrepresentations of union officials.
Dickinson's charges also maintain that Steelworkers union bosses "violated the NLRA because [they] demanded that Charging Party, and all similarly situated nonmember discriminatees, opt-out of paying for political and ideological activities, instead of opting-in to make such political and ideological payments." Supreme Court precedent, including the Foundation-won Knox v. SEIU case, establish the principle that union officials cannot assume that workers have waived their right to abstain from funding union politics.
"Just because Michigan legislators gave into union political pressure and rammed through a party-line repeal of Michigan's popular Right to Work law does not mean that union bosses can make any demands of workers that they want," commented National Right to Work Foundation President Mark Mix. "Michigan workers still have the right to abstain from membership and union political support, and should contact Foundation attorneys immediately if they experience any pushback in their exercise of those rights."
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The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in about 200 cases nationwide per year.
Posted on Dec 4, 2025 in News Releases
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Original text here: https://www.nrtw.org/news/viking-steelworkers-ulps-12042025/
Reason Foundation Issues Commentary: ROAD to Housing Act Carries Promise But Risks Bureaucratic Expansion
LOS ANGELES, California, Dec. 4 -- The Reason Foundation issued the following commentary on Dec. 3, 2025:
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The ROAD to Housing Act carries promise but risks bureaucratic expansion
While this approach may seem like a balanced first step, it raises important questions about how far federal agencies should go in shaping local decisions.
By Eliza Terziev, Housing Policy Analyst and Christina Mojica, Senior Policy Analyst
Continuing concerns over high home prices have prompted Congress to consider federal solutions. The "Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025," ROAD
... Show Full Article
LOS ANGELES, California, Dec. 4 -- The Reason Foundation issued the following commentary on Dec. 3, 2025:
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The ROAD to Housing Act carries promise but risks bureaucratic expansion
While this approach may seem like a balanced first step, it raises important questions about how far federal agencies should go in shaping local decisions.
By Eliza Terziev, Housing Policy Analyst and Christina Mojica, Senior Policy Analyst
Continuing concerns over high home prices have prompted Congress to consider federal solutions. The "Renewing Opportunity in the American Dream to Housing Act of 2025," ROADto Housing Act, is a broad bipartisan housing bill proposing several responses to the persistent housing shortage. The Senate passed it after it was incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act in October, and it is now awaiting approval by the House. The bill's bipartisan support highlights the urgency of the housing crisis; however, many analysts caution that expanding the federal role in land use carries risks that deserve scrutiny.
One reason the act has gained support is that it avoids preempting local zoning authority outright. Instead of overriding local control, the act focuses on research, guidance, and incentives for localities that choose to reform their zoning and regulatory frameworks. While this approach may seem like a balanced first step, it raises important questions about how far federal agencies should go in shaping local decisions. Incentives and guidance can easily evolve into indirect pressure, administrative burdens, or expectations that narrow the flexibility of states and localities. Even if all the bill's provisions are implemented, it will not, on its own, significantly reduce price pressures. States and local governments still must reform their restrictive systems.
The ROAD to Housing Act utilizes a range of policy tools, grouped into four general categories: mandated reports, financial incentives for regulatory reform, adjustments to housing finance programs, and updates to existing federal supply-side initiatives. This bill takes the unusual step of focusing on expanding housing supply before turning to subsidy-heavy approaches, which marks a shift from many earlier federal housing proposals. Even with this emphasis on supply, the breadth of the bill makes it difficult to evaluate as a cohesive policy approach, and combining many unrelated programs into a single package increases the risk of mission creep, a problem common across federal housing initiatives.
New reports
A major component of the ROAD to Housing Act is its mandate for a series of reports from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Department for Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Many of the reforms highlighted in these guidelines are supported by evidence, including reducing minimum lot sizes, parking reform, allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs), and streamlining both zoning and building codes. Collectively, these reports would be mandated by the Housing Supply Frameworks Act. The Housing Supply Frameworks Act is the portion of the broader bill that directs GAO and HUD to develop these reports and model guidelines, essentially serving as the research and planning section within the ROAD to Housing Act. However, federally curated guidance often becomes an informal standard that localities feel pressured to follow, even when local conditions differ. Analysts at institutions focused on federalism have frequently warned that benchmarking and advisory frameworks can grow into de facto expectations that add new bureaucratic oversight without meaningfully accelerating supply.
However, requiring research and monitoring by HUD and GAO into these reforms is not equivalent to enacting them. Local governments must implement these changes to enable supply adjustment, and that is where they are likely to encounter resistance. Knowing these barriers, this act goes one step further to nudge local governments toward enacting these proposed reforms.
Federal financial incentives for reform
Beyond requiring research, the ROAD to Housing Act establishes several incentives to local governments that expand their housing supply. Most notably, it establishes a $200 million "Innovation Fund," which will be awarded annually by HUD to local governments that demonstrate measurable supply expansion from 2027 to 2031. Grants will range from $250,000 to $10 million and be awarded to no fewer than 25 recipients annually.
This could encourage cities to take on politically difficult zoning reforms. However, federal grants can also cause jurisdictions to prioritize actions that maximize eligibility rather than reforms that address the most significant structural barriers. Jurisdictions may make symbolic or superficial changes to qualify for funding while avoiding deeper reforms that could truly expand housing options. There is also the possibility that some jurisdictions will benefit from market-driven supply increases unrelated to any policy change, while others with genuine constraints receive little or no support.
In addition, the ROAD to Housing Act establishes several other grant programs to expand home supply through rehabilitation. Notably, the Whole-Home Repairs Act and the Revitalizing Empty Structures Into Desirable Environments (RESIDE) Act give grants and forgivable loans to low-income homeowners and small landlords looking to repair old or dilapidated structures, through differing avenues and terms. Further, under the Accelerating Home Building Act grants are provided to local governments to develop pre-approved designs. These grant programs are also to be administered through HUD.
Rehabilitation programs help preserve aging housing and prevent the loss of existing units. Still, they do not meaningfully expand overall supply in markets where zoning and permitting rules limit the addition of new homes. The act also supports pre-approved building designs through the Accelerating Home Building Act. These efforts may help simplify parts of the construction process, but without broader zoning reform, pre-approved plans will not significantly expand supply. HUD's growing portfolio of grant programs also raises concerns about administrative complexity.
Mortgage reform
The ROAD to Housing Act includes several demand-side tweaks to the existing housing finance landscape to aid accessibility. Included as part of the act are incentives to increase the role of small-dollar loan originators and the expansion of Title I loans to cover the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and the purchase or improvement of manufactured homes. Further, this act expands existing financial literacy programs.
While these may help certain borrowers, demand-side tools do not directly address the primary driver of high prices: inadequate supply in many communities. If supply does not increase, new lending programs can unintentionally raise prices by boosting purchasing power without increasing the number of available homes. Because the act also aims to encourage supply-side reform, the risk is smaller than in past demand-driven programs, but it still warrants caution.
Reforming existing housing programs
Finally, this act makes several positive adjustments to existing housing programs. For example, it lifts the cap on the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, which allows local Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) to convert public housing into privately-managed Section 8 housing and is largely beneficial for tenants. Further, through the Build Now Act, it ties community block grants, one of the largest federal affordable housing and development grants, to broader housing supply, thereby again incentivizing land-use liberalization. Regarding private investments in affordable housing, it raises the cap on public welfare investments by banks, many of which directly support affordable housing initiatives.
This could encourage better land-use regulation, but it also imposes additional conditions on one of the largest federal development programs. The expansion of caps on public welfare investments for banks will likely increase private capital in affordable housing projects, though it also raises questions about the growing federal influence over private investment decisions.
Conclusion
Taken together, these provisions aim to connect federal programs more directly to local regulatory reform and affordable housing investment. The intent is to support voluntary action rather than mandate it. However, there is a real risk that expanding federal incentives, guidance, and grant programs will overshadow the need for comprehensive local reform. A meaningful improvement in housing affordability still depends on states and cities reducing exclusionary zoning, shortening permitting timelines, and updating outdated building codes. The ROAD to Housing Act identifies many contributors to high housing costs and encourages local governments to take action. The bill includes several positive elements, especially the emphasis on zoning reform and regulatory streamlining. At the same time, it carries risks of administrative expansion, program duplication, and indirect federal involvement in land use decisions. A balanced assessment should highlight both the promise and the pitfalls of the act. Federal guidance and financial incentives can only support affordability if they help remove barriers to housing expansion rather than add new layers of oversight. Genuine progress requires local and state governments to confront and reform the regulatory barriers that continue to limit housing supply.
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Eliza Terziev is a housing and land use policy analyst at Reason Foundation.
Christina Mojica is a senior policy analyst at Reason Foundation.
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Original text here: https://reason.org/commentary/the-road-to-housing-act-carries-promise-but-risks-bureaucratic-expansion/
Free for All Endowment Fund Awards $300,000 to Seventeen Organizations to Expand Access to Classical Music and Cultural Programming
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Dec. 4 -- The Boston Foundation issued the following news release:
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The Free for All Endowment Fund awards $300,000 to seventeen organizations to expand access to classical music and cultural programming
December 3, 2025
Boston - The Boston Foundation today announced that 17 organizations will share $300,000 in grants from the Foundation's Free for All Endowment Fund to support access to music and other cultural programming in Greater Boston.
Since its inception in 2016, the Free for All Endowment Fund has granted over $1.3 million to large and small organizations
... Show Full Article
BOSTON, Massachusetts, Dec. 4 -- The Boston Foundation issued the following news release:
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The Free for All Endowment Fund awards $300,000 to seventeen organizations to expand access to classical music and cultural programming
December 3, 2025
Boston - The Boston Foundation today announced that 17 organizations will share $300,000 in grants from the Foundation's Free for All Endowment Fund to support access to music and other cultural programming in Greater Boston.
Since its inception in 2016, the Free for All Endowment Fund has granted over $1.3 million to large and small organizationsto ensure that everyone from the Boston region--children, adults, and families--has regular and permanent access to the rich world of classical, orchestral music and related cultural programming. Organizations applying for grants are working to expand their programs and outreach to connect with a broad range of audiences across Greater Boston. Nearly 50 organizations applied with requests totaling over $1 million for this cycle, reflecting the Foundation's effort to connect with a wider range of potential grant partners.
"We believe these organizations contribute to the transformational change, growth, and accountability happening in Classical music across Greater Boston," said Catherine T. Morris, Director for Arts and Creativity at the Boston Foundation. "We are excited to support these organizations and ensembles, their remarkable programming, connection to their communities, and everything they provide for those who live in them."
Nine of this year's seventeen grantee partners had never received a grant from the Free for All Endowment Fund. They received grants ranging in amounts from $5,000 to $28,000.
Learn more about the Fund at https://www.tbf.org/nonprofits/grant-making-initiatives/free-for-all-fund.
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Original text here: https://www.tbf.org/news-and-insights/press-releases/2025/december/ffaef-grants-2025
As You Sow Commends Costco's Commitment to Address Deforestation Risks in Avocado Supply Chain
OAKLAND, California, Dec. 4 -- As You Sow Foundation posted the following news release:
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As You Sow Commends Costco's Commitment to Address Deforestation Risks in Avocado Supply Chain
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MEDIA CONTACT: Ryon Harms, ryon@asyousow.org, (310) 730-9407
EL CERRITO, CA - December 4, 2015 - This week, Costco Wholesale Corporation introduced new commitments in its 2025 sustainability report aimed at reducing deforestation risks in its avocado supply chain. The move comes after As You Sow withdrew a shareholder proposal calling for greater transparency into the company's supplier due-diligence
... Show Full Article
OAKLAND, California, Dec. 4 -- As You Sow Foundation posted the following news release:
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As You Sow Commends Costco's Commitment to Address Deforestation Risks in Avocado Supply Chain
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MEDIA CONTACT: Ryon Harms, ryon@asyousow.org, (310) 730-9407
EL CERRITO, CA - December 4, 2015 - This week, Costco Wholesale Corporation introduced new commitments in its 2025 sustainability report aimed at reducing deforestation risks in its avocado supply chain. The move comes after As You Sow withdrew a shareholder proposal calling for greater transparency into the company's supplier due-diligenceefforts."
In Costco's latest sustainability report, the company announced significant steps to combat illegal deforestation linked to avocado sourcing, particularly from high-risk regions. The retailer committed to diversifying sourcing away from areas with the highest deforestation risk while expanding third-party certification requirements for suppliers.
"Costco's commitment to tackle deforestation in its avocado supply chain represents meaningful progress on an urgent environmental risk," said Elizabeth Levy, Biodiversity Program Coordinator at As You Sow. "Avocado production has been linked to significant forest loss in Mexico and other regions, threatening biodiversity and contributing to climate change. We're encouraged to see Costco taking concrete action."
Key elements of Costco's approach include: requiring suppliers to use practices to avoid sourcing from illegally deforested lands; increasing the percentage of products certified by Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade USA; and engaging suppliers on the recently released ProForest certification in Mexico. The company also committed to monitor progress throug annual supply chain mapping and risk assessments.
As You Sow has engaged with numerous other food retailers on forest risk commodities through shareholder dialogue and resolutions. Supply chain transparency and third-party certification are critical tools for identifying and avoiding deforestation risk."Costco is helping ensure that shoppers can enjoy their guacamole without contributing to forest destruction," added Levy. "When major retailers take deforestation seriously, it creates positive ripple effects throughout the entire supply chain."
As You Sow is the nation's leading shareholder representative, with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility and advancing values-aligned investing. Its issue areas include climate change, ocean plastics, toxins in the food system, biodiversity, racial justice, and workplace diversity. Click here to view As You Sow's shareholder resolution tracker.
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Original text here: https://www.asyousow.org/press-releases/2025/12/4/as-you-sow-commends-costcos-commitment-to-address-deforestation-risks-in-avocado-supply-chain
AI's Global Realignment
DETROIT, Michigan, Dec. 4 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following news:
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AI's Global Realignment
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New technology is challenging political plans.
For many people, "AI" is something small that fits neatly in their pockets, confined to their 6.1'' phone screen, consigned to a little icon that lurks on their home screen or in a folder labeled "productivity." For the vast majority of consumers, what they call "Artificial Intelligence" (in reality, usually a Large Language Model [LLM] that imitates and reproduces patterns of language) is a tool they treat in the same
... Show Full Article
DETROIT, Michigan, Dec. 4 -- The Foundation for Economic Education posted the following news:
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AI's Global Realignment
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New technology is challenging political plans.
For many people, "AI" is something small that fits neatly in their pockets, confined to their 6.1'' phone screen, consigned to a little icon that lurks on their home screen or in a folder labeled "productivity." For the vast majority of consumers, what they call "Artificial Intelligence" (in reality, usually a Large Language Model [LLM] that imitates and reproduces patterns of language) is a tool they treat in the sameway as Google, a microwave, or a car. It is there for a purpose, but can be put away when it's not in use.
But in Southeast Asia, "AI" is something real, tangible, physicaland increasingly intrusive. The region has long been recognized as the most attractive place for global tech firms to invest when it comes to growing their AI capacities, with over $55 billion having been poured in by major tech companies already a figure that is expected to double by 2028 and it's easy to see why. Southeast Asia in general benefits from low energy costs, vast tracts of undeveloped land, andcruciallyreadily accessible water.
Water is like gold in the AI rush. After all, AI, like "the cloud," is a term that obfuscates its physical reality: there is no disembodied intelligence that exists only in the ether, but rather as a massive brain tethered to huge banks of computers, running and processing non-stop, hungrily swallowing energy and water at a pace that is difficult to sustain. These banks of computers, labeled "data centers," are incredibly resource-intensive, with large data centers already using up to five million gallons a day, the same as a small town of up to 50,000 people, to keep them cool enough to keep running.
So while many of us can safely tuck AI away into our trouser pocket, for the people of Southeast Asia, the physical presence of AI challenges the availability of resources. Inevitably, this has moved AI out of the realm of science fiction, rapidly through the world of the market, and into the sticky hands of politics. Artificial Intelligence, which only three years ago was considered clunky and nowhere near ready for mass use, has now become a geopolitical football kicked around by policy makers and climate change activists, in regional disputes.
Already, Google has quietly relegated its net-zero commitments to the dusty shelves, due almost entirely to the rapid rise in energy demand owing to AI data centers. This is a trend across other giants, including Apple, Meta, Alphabet, Microsoft, and others, though this is not so easily waved away as greedy corporations giving up the ghost as soon as they caninstead, AI Magazine argues, the AI surge should be seen as an opportunity to provide more innovative and sustainable answers to the questions raised by climate change. This poses questions over whether a commitment to net zero actually gets in the way of resolving energy crises, by preventing the technologies needed to solve it from doing so. As Kate Brandt, Chief Sustainability Officer at Google, put it: "Our AI-powered efficiency recommendation system for data centers led to a 40% reduction in the energy we use for cooling."
In fact, a report from the University of Cambridge determined that the enormous demand for AI and net-zero climate change commitments are, frankly, irreconcilable. Significantly, the report argues that "the idea that governments such as the UK can become leaders in AI while simultaneously meeting their net zero targets amounts to 'magical thinking at the highest levels,' according to the report's authors. The UK is committed to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050."
Similarly, in geopolitical terms, "Southeast Asia" is a fractured market with highly uneven investment; historically, highly-developed nations like Singapore have been well-placed to take advantage of the surge of investment, but as their natural resources relevant to AI dwindle (particularly land space), developing nations like Malaysia have benefited from, as McConnell and Yanling put it, "spillover" from the developed nations.
This has led to interesting, and potentially consequential, policy shifts as Singapore attempts to retain its leading role in the region: for instance, there are plans to use Jurong Island to build an AI data center powered by renewable energy in a major experiment in overcoming the bottleneck imposed on AI development by climate change concerns.
In response, Malaysia has developed a specific policy framework purely for data centers to integrate them into the nation's economic life, "streamlining policies and investment" with an ecological aspect in mind, while Vietnam has made AI and eco-data centers a central plank of its energy platform in its drive to become a tiger economy. Part of this plan is that half of all data centers must be powered by green technology.
Regardless of the strategy through which AI expansion is pursued, there is a clear pattern emerging. What we can see is an industry that is increasingly politicized, and geopolitically vulnerable; as global tech giants continue to pour billions into the gold rush that is AI, nations in Southeast Asia are competing more and more to attract investment and attempt to square the circle of climate change concerns with the potential prosperity the technology offers. The first nation to do so will reap the rewards.
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Original text here: https://fee.org/articles/ais-global-realignment/
