Should you be worried about AI? If you live in the Texas Panhandle like Kendra Kay, then yes, probably!
This week in OtherWords, Kay describes a planned, nuclear-powered AI data center near her home in Amarillo, Texas. Both nuclear power and AI data centers use massive amounts of water, she warns, which has local farmers and ranchers in the drought-prone region on edge. And it’s located near a former nuclear weapons site that’s still polluted, raising the risk of catastrophic accidents.
And of course, Kendra points out, the developers want big tax breaks and public loans for the project. That’s why she joined a recent national day of demonstrations against AI data centers and corporate greed. “We’re saying no to AI data centers, no to higher utility bills, no to water theft, and no to CEOs stealing our public dollars,” she writes. “Ordinary families shouldn’t be forced to foot the bill to expand the wealth of tech bro billionaires.”
Also this week, Sarah Anderson enlists the pope (!) as an ally in her fight against overpaid CEOs. Paul Gordon warns ordinary Americans to count on each other, not the Supreme Court (whose new term is coming up), to protect democracy. And Daphne Wysham argues that now is the time to halt methane emissions.
New This Week…
AI Is a Dangerous Billionaire Boondoggle | Kendra Kay
Billionaires want to use your tax dollars to put nuclear-powered AI data centers in drought-prone farmland. What could go wrong?
Even the Pope Is Fed Up With Overpaid CEOs | Sarah Anderson
Americans are fed up with CEOs that stiff their workers. And of those fed up Americans happens to be the pope.
The American People Need to Check the Supreme Court | Paul Gordon
The Court’s right-wing MAGA majority is shredding the Constitution and denying our rights.
The Climate’s Emergency Brake | Daphne Wysham
Slashing methane emissions now could slow the runaway train of global warming long enough to get our act together. But only if we act.
In Case You Missed It…
Rural Communities Brace for Trump’s Health Cuts | Rokosz Most
Rural hospitals — often the largest employers as well as critical care providers in their regions — will be among the worst hit by the GOP’s Medicaid cuts.
Don’t Let Wall Street Gamble with Your Golden Years | Chloe Rogers
Private equity firms want your retirement savings — and the Trump administration wants to help them.
Child Care Doesn’t Have to Be This Terrible | Brea Harris
It was only after months of expensive child care stress that I learned other countries don’t do it this way.
Make Housing Pet-Friendly | Farrah Hassen
Unnecessary pet restrictions on rental properties make a tough housing market even worse for countless Americans like me — and my cat.
