“Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) said Friday he is pausing the state’s data center tax incentives starting in July amid a push to address concerns about electricity costs and water resources that have plagued the AI infrastructure build-out nationwide."
“More than a decade of voluntary farm conservation programs hasn’t gotten the state far enough on water quality, the Lobe Rangers say.”
"The environmental footprint of data centers already rivals some of the world’s largest countries, according to a United Nations University report, which also predicts their water and energy use and pollution will double in just four years as use of artificial intelligence grows."
"Former crew members report egregious environmental destruction and labor abuses onboard shadowy squid fishing fleets, due to a regulatory vacuum."
"Legislation to approve water projects is typically one of the most bipartisan bills to pass Congress, but advancing a package this year may be harder thanks to President Donald Trump’s penchant for withholding funding from his political enemies."
"President Trump’s proposed budget eliminates funding for the Chemical Safety Board, the agency investigating last month’s deadly chemical leak in Kanawha County."
"New York and six other Democratic-led states are challenging the Trump administration’s controversial efforts to pay private energy firms to abandon their U.S. offshore wind projects."
"Environmental activist Erin Brockovich has a new mission: bringing more transparency to data center construction and the impact those data centers have on nearby communities. Brockovich — who was famously played by Julia Roberts in a film dramatizing her legal case against Pacific Gas & Electric — recently launched a website with a map of data centers across the United States."
"National Park Service officials repeatedly raised legal and environmental concerns over the Trump administration’s plan to lease public parkland, including the site of a professional tennis tournament, to a private operator widely expected to be the tournament’s operator, according to records reviewed by The Washington Post."
"Public utility commissions have a ton of influence over utility rate hikes and power plant construction, but only a handful of states let voters decide who’s on them."
