No. 108: Rent Hike

If you're renting and raving – pun very much intended – about how much money is going to a roof over your head, the good news is that the Justice Department is addressing a possible culprit: collusion among landlords, unintentional or otherwise, to set prices above normal market values.

Allbirds is ready to sweep you off your feet in our featured job this week, and it's time for an internet detour to check on your voter registration status. Really! People are voting as soon as next month, and I have a few links to help you stay on track.

~ Greg

What we're reading

The Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit against RealPage, a software platform used by rental companies to increase revenues. (Axios)

• RealPage is fighting an uphill battle against two trends: an aggressive antitrust environment (including a successful bout against Google), and a significant rise in rents throughout the pandemic years.
  • The data that RedFin compiled last year shows that rents increased roughly 25% since 2019, but our buying power was about the same, making this a particularly potent problem for renters.
• RealPage helps landlords set market pricing to maximize their revenue. The Justice Department is accusing RealPage of using landlord data to set pricing in a way as if landlords were colluding to raise rents.
  • Arguably it's an algorithm, not intentional collusion, that's driving these results. But as we've seen before, it doesn't take much for an algorithm to have a negative social impact.
• I'm interested to see if similar antitrust lawsuits come out in the future. Pooling user data to inform algorithm development is common practice – I'd argue it's the foundation of machine learning – and it wouldn't surprise me if the Justice Department uses the results of this case to inform other ones.

Countries have deployed a plethora of climate policies, with some having more impact than others. A new study summarizes what is working and what isn't. (Grist)

• We've covered all kinds of environmental policy in the U.S. in this newsletter, and the U.S. has used both the carrot and the stick to drive adoption.
  • The Inflation Reduction Act is a great example of the carrot approach. Companies have invested significant capital to build out clean energy infrastructure over the past few years. It's the quintessential exponential growth curve.
  • The EPA has been hard at work with the stick approach, setting stricter regulations to reduce vehicle emissions and pollution – or trying to anyway.
• What seems to work best is a diverse climate policy approach. Of the 1500 policies the researchers analyzed, 63 had a significant impact on climate emissions.
  • Adding a carbon tax or cap-and-trade program can have a major impact on its own but tends to make more of a difference when paired with other approaches. I'd liken it to the threat of punishment if companies exceed emissions standards paired with the promise of money to avoid exceeding those limits. Companies are taking governments up on the offer.

Job of the week

There is probably no bigger name in sustainable footwear than Allbirds, the Certified B Corp that became a Silicon Valley fashion darling before finding an audience elsewhere. They are hiring a number of roles at the corporate level today, including a Senior Manager, Art Director who will be a key player in branding and marketing. You'd have your hands on a bunch of different creative: packaging, video, digital advertising, and more.

I particularly like the stop motion product images they're using on their homepage – maybe I'll be highlighting your work in the future!

Community roundup

• The National Park Service just received the largest grant in its history: $100 million dollars from the Lilly Endowment. (The Guardian)
• California is evaluating legislation that would give them the final say on any high-value private equity acquisitions of healthcare providers. (Axios)
  • These types of deals tend to lean towards shareholder value as the primary objective, and critics argue that it's jeopardizing patient outcomes.
• MIT's admissions office released demographic information on its incoming class of 2028 – the first after the Supreme Court's ruling on affirmative action – and enrollment of Black, Latino, Native American and Pacific Islander students has dropped from 25% to 16%. (NBC News)
• Illinois has banned corporal punishment in all schools, becoming the fifth state in the nation to do so. (AP News)
  • Yet another example of, "Wait, this is still legal?" Public schools have been subject to this restriction for decades, but most private schools are not.
• Massive Attack is throwing the lowest-carbon concert of its scale in the UK in hopes of inspiring more concerts to follow suit. (BBC News)
  • The very first newsletter I wrote followed this trend, and I saw it firsthand at a Coldplay concert a few years ago. Artists are increasingly conscious of their sustainability impacts, from transportation and trash to energy and water usage.
• Scientists are researching the use of bacteria to recycle heavy metals used in clean energy technologies. (The Guardian)
• The president of Columbia University has stepped down in response to her handling of recent campus protests. (CBS News)

Hot job opportunities

• Research Analyst - Climate & Sustainability – BCG – Boston, MA
• Sr. Manager, Digital Content - Adventure Sports – Revelyst – Irvine, CA
• Open Source Lead – CarbonPlan – Remote
• Senior Human Resources Business Partner – Arbonne – Greenwood, IN
• Customer Service & Customer Support Operations – HigherRing – Remote
• Product Manager – National Domestic Workers Alliance – Remote
• Digital Organinzing Intern – Relentless – Remote
• Shop Lead – Parker Clay – Santa Barbara, CA
• Manager, Brand and Creative – Arnold Ventures – Washington, DC or New York, NY
• Education & Access Communications Manager – Mass Audubon – Lincoln, MA

Resource of the week

Believe it or not, early voting starts next month. It may not be the first resource you think of when you consider social impact, but your vote matters and it's worth checking that you're registered to vote.

Vote.org is always my first stop when it comes to anything about voter registration because they're nonpartisan and make it easy to take action. I used it recently to find out a registration deadline, and you can register to vote in a couple of minutes. There's no time like the present!

Test your knowledge

Last week's question tapped into the UN's food assistance program, the World Food Programme. It is massive: they estimate that 152 million people received assistance last year, which by my math means they're feeding around 2% of the world's population every year.

I always learn something when I'm researching the articles in the newsletter this week, and I came across a carbon sequestration technique that struck me as fascinating. Have you heard of it?

The U.S. Forest Service is known for thinning out forests to help reduce wildfire risk. Some of the trees can be repurposed into lumber, but companies have started burying other trees to prevent greenhouse gases from escaping into the atmosphere. What is that burying process called?

Email me your guess, and I'll send one lucky winner a couple of One Work stickers!

I traveled through Portland's new airport terminal for the first time on Sunday, and boy is it spectacular. You owe it to yourself to check it out – the timber roof is something else. You can find me on LinkedIn and Threads.