iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Amanda D. Smith

Project Drawdown @projectdrawdown.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

One in four new data centers are taking their energy from quick & dirty private power generation, not the grid. That's bad for communities and bad for the climate.

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Reposted by Amanda D. Smith

Project Drawdown @projectdrawdown.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

Data centers can't come at the cost of our health and climate progress. In 2020, data centers were less than 2% of U.S. electricity use. Today, they're nearly 5% and growing. This is impacting our health and climate goals. Read more from @amandadsmith.bsky.social 🔗 bit.ly/4bFpi0U

The image is an infographic about data center electricity consumption in the U.S. It highlights a growth from less than 2% to nearly 5% over a decade. Below the text, a graph displays electricity consumption by region, covering 2020–2030. Regions include the United States, China, Europe, Asia excluding China, and the rest of the world. The source is EIA. Bright colors illustrate different regions.

The image contains a document titled "Drawdown Insights" discussing the environmental impact of data centers. Key points include high electricity and water use for cooling and being located in resource-scarce areas, affecting local communities. At the bottom, there's an aerial photo of an Amazon Web Services Data Center in the U.S. with credit to Tedder, Creative Commons.

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Reposted by Amanda D. Smith

Project Drawdown @projectdrawdown.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

What happened to solutions such as "Family Planning" or "Indigenous Land Management"? Sr. Scientist Amanda Smith explains that, to create a more standardized framework for solutions across sectors, the definition needed to be tightened and a new section (co-benefits) created. bit.ly/4fHuR1U

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Reposted by Amanda D. Smith

Project Drawdown @projectdrawdown.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Big Battery Energy? Yes, America boomed in 2025. 🔋 Batteries are one of the 6 technologies outlined by Sr. Scientist Amanda Smith, PhD. that will make up the cleaner electric grid of the future. Read more in Wired: bit.ly/4tTTk8Z Read more from Amanda Smith, PhD.: bit.ly/4tOZI10

bit.ly

The US Had a Big Battery Boom Last Year

Despite Donald Trump’s unrelenting attacks on renewable energy, there’s a quiet revolution happening on US grids.

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Reposted by Amanda D. Smith

Project Drawdown @projectdrawdown.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Federal funding for climate science is disappearing. Some of our best scientists are being left without support. That's a problem and Project Drawdown is stepping in.

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

"High-emitting sectors warrant more attention and creativity." Love this. Imagine what we could do if all the smart, caring people were unleashed on improving our buildings while reducing cement use or changing transportation to be safer and more equitable while reducing fossil fuel use.

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

LED lighting has been a game changer, slashing energy consumed for lighting, and is taking off worldwide. It's so efficient compared w/ 20th century lighting that switching incandescent to LEDs will actually decrease your cooling load (or increase heating) Solution assessment by Dr. Henry Igugu ⬇️

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

We need a part-time researcher to help expand the Drawdown Explorer! This is a 6-mo contract fellowship for analyzing climate solutions related to #PowerGeneration #CleanEnergy & #ElectricityGrid with our all-virtual team. Read the job description and apply at drawdown.org/careers/rese... by Nov 2.

lnkd.in

Research Fellow

Our mission is to help the world reach “Drawdown" as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible.

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 26/08/2025

Buildings claiming to be #netzero #emissions wind up with a very narrow system boundary or offsets, although they usually are much better than those built w/ common practices! We need new practices, a radical 🌿 shift in how we create and interact with buildings to protect our #climate and ourselves.

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Wow, just realized I was on @apnews.com video talking about the impacts of #AI #DataCenters and #electricity sector! Using #FossilFuels to meet these demands hurts people closest to those plants as well as the climate. Great, more detailed info on gas & nuclear from Prof. Lee comes after my clips.

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Reposted by Amanda D. Smith

Project Drawdown @projectdrawdown.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

This graphic illustrates a core issue with “net zero” claims: offsets may balance the equation on paper, but don’t eliminate the most difficult emissions tied to construction materials, energy systems, and building ops 🏡💨. 👉 Read the full insights post by @amandadsmith.bsky.social: bit.ly/4mwRtTp

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

We do actually have evidence about how to make transit better for people and less harmful for planet. It's both simpler and more complex than you think. I've learned a lot from former Drawdown climate solutions research fellow Dr. Cameron Roberts and hope you will too. Join next Weds at 10am PDT:

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

It seems the financial prospects of AI tech changed suddenly, especially in the US. The tech didn't change that suddenly. The financial system is entirely made up. Whether something is cost-effective or profitable cannot be the main factor guiding any of our decisions as we build a better world.

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Modern bureaucracy requires 'calculable rules' in order to work, and the more those rules are divorced from our humanity, the more 'calculable' things become and the more optimized we think our bureaucracies are. (Max Weber in translation, openlibrary.org/books/OL6498...)

excerpt, p. 215: "'Calculable rules' also is of paramount importance for modern bureaucracy."

excerpt, p. 216: "The more the bureaucracy is 'dehumanized,' the more completely it succeeds in eliminating from official business love, hatred, and all purely personal, irrational, and emotional elements which escape calculation."

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

How does the climate system relate to disasters like wildfires in the US? Check out this chapter of the National Climate Assessment. I'm proud to know and trust the Chapter Lead Author ⬇️. And this ain't the IPCC, it's very readable. They even have art: nca2023.globalchange.gov/art-climate/

nca2023.globalchange.gov

Fifth National Climate Assessment Art × Climate Gallery

The Fifth National Climate Assessment is the US Government’s preeminent report on climate change impacts, risks, and responses. It is a congressionally mandated interagency effort that provides the sc...

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Reposted by Amanda D. Smith

Joe Allen @joeallenjoe.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Key points on masks for wildfires: -N95s only capture particles, but wildfires have toxic gases, too -there are masks (respirators) that capture both particles and gases -here’s what they look like -here’s what you should look for: P100+ organic vapor -you can buy on Amazon and at Home Depot

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

@davidzipper.bsky.social is...well, on fire today 🔥 I didn't care about Big Tobacco when we got smoking out of our buildings and I don't care about Giant Car now. I do own a truck. I don't want to kill anyone. We can do better. See @lloydalter.bsky.social: lloydalter.substack.com/p/its-time-f...

lloydalter.substack.com

It's time for limits on truck and SUV size and weight

They take up too much space, and they kill far too many pedestrians and cyclists.

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Reposted by Amanda D. Smith

John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 03/01/2025

A way to think about "AI" is that it's like single-use plastic: Super-convenient, sold as disposable, designed to be used without much thought, and while it's easy to get annoyed with your mom for using it, the real problem are the dudes destroying the planet in order to keep shoveling it out

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

Criminalizing homelessness doesn't address the problem. But we do have evidence about what does and doesn't work. @michaelhobbes.bsky.social explains how we make it worse: www.huffpost.com/entry/homele... Poverty, By America shows us 🇺🇸 it doesn't have to be this way: bookshop.org/p/books/pove...

huffpost.com

Why America Can’t Solve Homelessness

As the face of homelessness changes, politicians cling to limited policy ideas and quick fixes.

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

+1 AND your ability to remain here should not be tied to the whims of one particular corporation. Just like a graduate student's ability to remain in the country should not depend on the good graces of one particular professor.

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Reposted by Amanda D. Smith

Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

Come join our growing team! Project Drawdown seeks - a new Director of Private-Sector Partnerships (full-time, US based) - several part-time research fellows (part-time, US or international) Drawdown.org/careers

drawdown.org

Careers

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Grateful for whoever put this in the Q&A box during my last webinar: "There's no magic bullet. Instead there are thousands of answers—at least. You can be one of them if you choose to be"- Octavia Butler Yes. That's right.🙏 I will keep coming back to this.🕯️ Read the whole essay - it's short! ⬇️

Book lying open with highlighted passage:
"There's no magic bullet. Instead there are thousands of answers—at least. You can be one of them if you choose to be."

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Amanda D. Smith @amandadsmith.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

A while ago I bought "climate neutral" tweezers. Manufactured metal. Plastic wrapped. Shipped to my store. Not sure why they annoyed me so, but I kept complaining. Then got into a chat w/ a brilliant creative communications colleague that turned into something real to say about climate marketing:

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