Monstrosity data center power plant polluting Memphis to power a nerd reich chatbot.
No, I don't want this in Pennsylvania, I don't want it in Memphis and I've never even been to Memphis, but the situation sounds terrible.
Another article I’d missed from a few weeks ago. And if I’m missing this stuff, and I’m paying attention, then lots of people who live near proposed data center locations are definitely not getting the message.
Tennessee Lookout - A billionaire, an AI supercomputer, toxic emissions and a Memphis community that did nothing wrong Memphis’s dealings with Elon Musk provide a textbook example of how the people who contribute the least to environmental harm often suffer the most from it. Ren Brabenec July 7, 2025 The facility is currently operating 33 methane-powered gas turbines to fuel its AI technology despite holding a permit for only 15. The supercomputer facility is located in a poor, predominantly Black Memphis community with historically high rates of pollution-related illness and disproportionate rates of industrial pollutants. The magnitude of the energy draw — and resulting pollution — at Colossus is, well, colossal. According to the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), the facility draws enough electricity to power approximately 100,000 homes. Those inputs are alarming, but the outputs are even worse. The facility’s behemoth methane gas turbines increase Memphis’s smog by 30-60% as they belch planet-warming nitrogen oxides and poisonous formaldehyde around the clock, pollutants linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease.
My letter to reps:
I don't want the data center power plants in our community. We already have too much pollution here. I've heard what's going on in places like Carbon County PA where they're burning tires to print financial bribe corruption currency, like Memphis where they're sickening the community with unregulated and unmitigated pollution just to run the nerd reich chatbot, and other places where houses are vibrating from the data center fans, and headlines describe residents as being driven mad. Stop the data center power plants. I don't want them here.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.
Interview with the reporter:
How Elon Musk is Poisoning Memphis | Ren Brabenec | TMR - The Majority Report w/ Sam Seder Jul 20, 2025 Ren Brabenec joinsto talk about his piece in the Tennessee Lookout that covers Elon Musk’s unpermitted Ai data center that is causing massive environmental damage in Memphis.
Past media on the Memphis data center power plant.
Memphis residents erupt at hearing over Musk's xAI data center More Perfect Union Jun 11, 2025 We went to a public hearing on April 25, where residents testified that they can’t breathe and are getting sicker. “We've shown up here today because we're tired of going in and out of funeral homes... That stops now.”
We Went to the Town Elon Musk Is Poisoning More Perfect Union May 30, 2025 Elon Musk’s massive xAI data center is poisoning Memphis. It's burning enough gas to power a small city, with no permits and no pollution controls. Residents tell us they can’t breathe and they’re getting sicker.
Musk’s xAI gas turbines: no emission controls, filling Memphis air with smog - David Gerard 14 May 2025 xAI’s environmental consultant, Shannon Lynn, says “there’s rules that say temporary sources can be in place for up to 364 days a year. They are not subject to permitting requirements.” xAI has applied for permits for the first set of turbines. But it won’t install pollution controls unless and until its permits are approved.
“Musk Is Scamming the City of Memphis”: Meet Two Brothers Fighting Colossus, Musk’s xAI Data Center Democracy Now! Apr 25, 2025 We speak with two brothers who are fighting Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI over its massive data center in Memphis, Tennessee, used to run its chatbot Grok.
Efficiency and Abundance Lowering costs or shifting them? - Dylan Gyauch-Lewis and Revolving Door Project Apr 14, 2025 It can absolutely slow the building process and add additional costs. But the unspoken tradeoff is that we are more likely to—intentionally or unintentionally—harm and exploit people without it. What happens without these processes can be seen in projects that skirt them; in Memphis, Elon Musk’s xAI data center went ahead and expanded on-site fossil fuel turbines without a permit, and the community is now being exposed to dangerous air pollution and carcinogenic chemicals like formaldehyde.