AI Data Centers Raise Environmental and Health Concerns in Communities Across the US
By
Erin Brockovich, Suzanne Boothby
The kind of bagel that ruins lesser bagels for you.
Summary
The article discusses the rapid expansion of AI data centers across communities, drawing parallels to historical environmental pollution crises. The author, who has experience fighting for communities affected by pollution, argues that data centers are being built near neighborhoods and schools without adequate transparency about their environmental and health impacts. The piece introduces a new map tool to track AI data center locations and their community effects, calling for the same scrutiny applied to past pollution issues.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledThey had no idea they were being poisoned. When they asked questions, they were told that what was happening in their water, their air, their soil was fine.
It wasn't fine then. And what's happening right now, town by town across this country, deserves the same scrutiny.
Data centers are going up in industrial parks, on the edges of neighborhoods, sometimes right next to schools.
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