"He saw how easy it was for environmentalism to lose its teeth by shifting from a call to restructure society into a personal quest for harmony with nature. For Bookchin, ecological problems were not the result of a rupture in some metaphysical human consciousness, but of hierarchical systems that perpetuate domination—first of people, then of nature. If we want to address ecological crisis, we have to confront those systems. We have to make ecology political."
resilience
Against “Ecological Consciousness”: Why We Need Ecological Literacy, Not Mystified Unity
The Earth doesn’t need us at all, it certainly doesn’t need us to awaken. It needs us to pay attention, to get involved, and to become ecologic...
Tech Giants Are Trying to Cover Up the Environmental Impacts of Their Data Centers Silicon Valley is using legal loopholes and NDAs to keep the public in the dark about the water and energy being consumed by generative AI. "A new Microsoft data center in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, will require more than eight million gallons of water each year to operate, according to records that Microsoft did everything in its power to keep hidden from the public."
Progressive.org
Tech Giants Are Trying to Cover Up the Environmental Impacts of Their Data Centers
Silicon Valley is using legal loopholes and NDAs to keep the public in the dark about the water and energy being consumed by generative AI.
"While Angelenos must curtail their water use, California data centers won’t even be forced to disclose their water consumption. Earlier this month, Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have required the facilities, which can guzzle millions of gallons in a single day, to report their water usage." https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/ai-zuckerberg-tech-regulation-data-security/
Super-secretive data centers creep up on communities to get go-ahead before anyone can object “Why so secretive about this whole topic? It’s really not a good look. If it’s a legitimate process, why so secretive about it." “Slow all this down. Be honest. Just don’t try to shove it all down our throats." “We need a David to this Goliath. You did not take an oath to represent the interests of Fortune 50 companies. You took an oath to represent the citizens of Hermantown"
MPR News
Controversial northern Minnesota data center proposal advances despite opposition
After an hourslong meeting, the Hermantown City Council approved a needed zoning change to advance the proposed data center that’s being develope...
"Unfortunately, the technology of the future demands a high price. On top of the exorbitant energy cost fueling a return to industrial-era levels of pollution, AI is also propped up by a massive global sweatshop operation, where low-wage workers in underdeveloped countries are tasked with doing the hidden intellectual labor that makes the tech useful."
Futurism
The AI Industry Is Traumatizing Desperate Contractors in the Developing World for Pennies
AI is propped up by a global sweat shop operation, where exploited workers polish the software for wealthy corporations in the west.
Data centres powering artificial intelligence (AI) in Scotland are using enough tap water to fill 27 million half-litre bottles a year, according to data obtained by BBC News. You don't miss your water until your well runs dry.
BBC News
Scottish data centres powering AI already using enough water to fill 27 million bottles a year
The volume of tap water used by Scotland's data centres has quadrupled since 2021, figures show.
“400 million computers that are going to enter the waste stream. That’s a disaster, just in terms of the sheer volume,” Nathan Proctor, director of consumer rights group PIRG’s right to repair campaign, said on the 404 podcast. “And then you have people who are going to ignore the warnings and use a computer that’s insecure, so there’s going to [eventually] be some widespread security problems with these older, unsupported, no longer getting security updates computers.”
404 Media
The End of Windows 10 Support Is an E-Waste Disaster in the Making
In an example of egregious planned obsolescence, as many as 400 million computers will soon hit the waste stream.
Meet the attorney who not only submitted AI-generated fake citations in a brief for his clients, but also included “multiple new AI-hallucinated citations and quotations” in the process of opposing a motion for sanctions.
404 Media
Lawyer Caught Using AI While Explaining to Court Why He Used AI
The attorney not only submitted AI-generated fake citations in a brief for his clients, but also included “multiple new AI-hallucinated citations...
Mining uranium in the Gran Canyon in order to feed AI "A stunning development has materialized involving something more than the beauty and heritage attached to the Grand Canyon, and mining companies are salivating at this prospect. A rich deposit beneath the surface of the canyon has been discovered, and the mineral it houses could be worth billions of dollars."
The Pulse
“There could be billions” — The Grand Canyon goes under the spotlight after this stunning find
A new discovery in the Grand Canyon. A deposit of uranium has environmentalists, mines, tribes and government feuding over what happens next.
Tainted waters: Uranium mining and radiological risks in Jadugoda of Jharkhand Radioactive waste from uranium mining is leaking into everyday life in Jadugoda, Jharkhand—showing up as birth defects, cancers, chronic illness and profound distress. Uncovered tailing ponds sit dangerously close to homes. Immediate containment, routine radiation monitoring, and transparent public reporting are overdue.
India Water Portal
Tainted waters: Uranium mining and radiological risks in Jadugoda of Jharkhand
In the mineral-rich heart of Jharkhand lies Jadugoda, India’s first uranium mine since 1951.  Nestled within the Singhbhum Shear Zone, it ha...