July 22 General Meeting
Resist the Tech Oligarchy! |
Hello {{ FirstName | commonize | default: ‘Friend’ }}, We hope we will see you on July 22nd for our next General Meeting! The topic this month will be the rise of the tech oligarchy, the ideological aspirations of the tech sector leadership, and how it ties into local data center site fights. The meeting is hybrid, food will be provided, and support services like babysitting are available with pre-registration by July 15. Click here to register! With Bread and Roses, Bridge, Chris, Cindy, Milo and Stella |
Regulating Data Centers in Erie-Niagara |
We’re still celebrating the big wins from June, and are happy to share that Supervisor Flynn mentioned in a recent Town Board meeting that the Town of Tonawanda is examining a local moratorium, and that we had a well attended meeting up in Niagara Falls with our friends from Create a Healthier Niagara Falls – we still need to keep the pressure on, though, to force action across local municipalities and statewide. First, please be sure to send an email to Governor Hochul urging her to sign the full 1-year moratorium bill. Politico reports that she is presently weighing a 6-month moratorium as an executive order to examine the electrical ratepayer impacts, which we are not opposed to, but we want her to sign the full bill, which is tied to broader studies and regulatory actions – click here to send her an email now! Second, this month we will be launching a letter campaign to local electeds to urge them to take action on data centers. More to come on this – stay tuned to our social media for updates in the short term. Third, please be sure to use our letter campaign to contact the leadership of OSC/RITC to urge them to stop developing a data center at the former Tonawanda Coke site and instead planned use of that site to renewable energy generation and storage for the grid, and to implement the better practices they propose for the former Tonawanda Coke sites at their existing data center at 1001 East Delavan in Buffalo. Finally, please join us at one of the upcoming public meetings related to our data center campaign – Thursday July 9, a joint training with PUSH Buffalo on the Energy Sector, Rising Bills, and the impacts of data centers July 15, a training on 1-1s for Clean Air member-leaders (all Clean Air members invited, but we’re specifically asking member-leaders who are deeply engaged in our campaigns to join us.) Thursday August 6, our next New Member Orientation, which will be held at the TReC in Niagara Falls – we’ve had a significant growth of members and supporters in Niagara Falls over the past year, so our next NMO will be to welcome these new members on board! PS – also check out the news further down in this newsltter about the clean-up at Tonawanda Coke! |
Ranked Choice for Buffalo |
Clean Air is a member of the Ranked Choice Coalition – the City of Buffalo is close to including Ranked Choice on the ballot in November as part of the City Charter process, but needs an extra push to get across the finish line. Please sign the petition today! |
High Heat and Air Quality |
The horrible heat wave we were experiencing last week seems to have broke, but just a reminder that in addition to the direct health issues from high heat days, this weather also worsens air quality, especially when there are local sources like fireworks.
Take frequent breaks, drink water, check in on neighbors and stay safe! |
North Tonawanda Data Center Meeting |
The crew up in North Tonawanda that Clean Air has been supporting is having a community meeting on Wednesday July 15 at the Carnegie Art Center (240 Goundry St, NT) from 6:30pm – 8:00pm. All are welcome to attend, and the 90 minute session will features guest speakers covering important topics to help us all gain a better understanding of data centers:
Differences that distinguish data centers from crypto mining operations
Unique properties and harmful effects of the low-frequency industrial noise produced by data centers
Research studies on urban data centers. |
EPA, DEC and Regulatory Agency News |
There’s been some action recently on the clean-up at Tonawanda Coke – the Remedial Action Work Plan for 3875 River Road (the data center parcel) has been approved by DEC, so that work will be starting. Relatedly, the Superfund parcel that runs along the road leading up to 3875 River Road (Site 109) has also will likely have a Remedial Action Work Plan approved very shortly.
Read more about these projects here and here. This is welcome news – we were worried that stopping the data center might mean a stop to the remediation, or that the attempt by the developer to use the cap as part of the foundation would be used as an end run around the community for the data center project. Neither case has borne out – the cap/foundation is being poured to remove the public health danger from the contamination that will remain on site, but this does NOT mean a data center is being built. On a related note, there is also a new proposed brownfield project at 3701 River Road in the Town of Tonawanda to the south of the former Tonawanda Coke site clean up contamination from spills at an oil tank farm. Comments can be emailed to Jason.Kryszak@dec.ny.gov until July 24, and you can find other ways to submit comments on the DEC announcement here. We also want to share news that there is a Title V permit renewal process ongoing in Niagara Falls for the Durez chemical plant. At this time, neither Durez nor the DEC are planning a public meeting that we are aware of, because currently there are no proposed changes to the existing operations. You can also review the related documents here. If you would like to request a meeting or submit a comment, please email the Plant Manger Mike Kifer and DEC Region 9 Staff – deadline is July 29. In other news, we just wanted to share a few headlines about the EPA and other federal regulatory agencies from this past month – Oil and Gas Watch – Trump Administration proposes allowing companies to start building industrial plants without air permits (Clean Air submitted comments in opposition to this proposed change.) Inside Climate News – Chemical Accidents Rise as Trump Administration Proposes Weakening Safety Rules AP – Appeals court rejects Trump EPA bid to abandon rule restricting deadly soot pollution WBNG- EPA Admin. Zeldin visits Binghamton, sparks protest opposing Constitution Pipeline The New York Times- Trump’s Top Air Pollution Regulator to Resign |
Report Industrial Violations |
Headlines in Environmental Justice, Climate Justice, and the Just Transition |
Data Center Headlines - Robert Booth, The Guardian – AI boom has caused same CO2 emissions in 2025 as New York City, report claims
- Zoya Teirstein & Kate Yoder, Grist Magazine – America’s data center backlash is bipartisan — can it stay that way?
- Jake Bittle, Grist Magazine – A solution to data center backlash? Put them in oil fields.
- Ben Carroll, The Real News Network – Workers have a secret weapon against the AI build-out
- Heidi Truschel-Light, Lockport Union Sun and Journal – Chief: Lake Mariner data center fire exposed safety concerns
- Chris Bonasia, The Energy Mix – Virtual Power Plant to Unlock Grid Capacity for Google Data Centres
- Jody MacPherson, The Energy Mix – O’Leary’s Data Centre Will Be One of Earth’s Largest Heat Sources, Physicist Warns
- Kate Meadows, Cowboy State Daily – Cheyenne WY Won’t Take Data Center Wastewater After Meta Contractor Contaminated System
- Environmental Integrity Project – The Power Behind AI (Report)
- The AI Data Center Water Management Challenge: A Georgia Case Study (Report)
- Dan McCarthy, Canary Media – Data centers use more power in the US than in any other country
Maria Gallucci, Canary Media – A year after US Steel was sold, communities push for clean investment Kate Aronoff, The New Republic – This Is the Week for Democrats to Start Saying “Climate Change” Again Daniel Hunter, Waging Nonviolence – Trump’s repression of dissent is backfiring Julia Angwin and Ami Fields-Meyer, The New York Times – The State of American Resistance Is Stronger Than You May Think Mattha Busby, Atmos Magazine – How Toxin-Munching Mushrooms Are Restoring Polluted Brownfields Dylan Hatch, Grassroots Economic Organizing – Building a Cooperative Labour Movement David Fickling, Bloomberg News Opinion – Who’s Really Keeping Fossil Fuels Alive? Taxpayers The Guardian Scot Nakagawa, The Anti-Authoritarian Playbook Stubstak Grist Magazine |
Our hearts go our to our friend Nadia Pizarro, whose son was killed at the Erie County Holding Center. She is running a GoFundMe to help with funeral costs – click here to support. |
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