South Fulton, an Atlanta suburb, has recently seen the construction of five major data center projects and several more proposals to accommodate the nation’s rapidly growing demand for artificial intelligence. Georgia Public Broadcast brought Georgia Field Organizer Kiya Stanford (pictured) on to speak about the environmental, health, and justice impacts these data centers will bring to Atlanta residents. This segment also ran on Rough Draft Atlanta and Now Habersham.
Tell Congress: Hold Zeldin Accountable for Corrupting EPA’s Mission
These data centers endanger the health of surrounding communities as they release vast amounts of harmful air pollutants, including soot, benzene, formaldehyde, and ozone—and the pollution burden isn’t distributed evenly. “If you look at the demographics of these regions, they have in common that they’re primarily communities of color,” said Kiya.
Kiya warned that Atlanta’s number of unhealthy ozone days rose from 1.8 days in 2023 to 5.5 days in 2024, and we can expect this number to grow alongside data center developments.
In other news
- Moms Director and Co-Founder Dominique Browning called out EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin for asking a federal court to overturn limits on soot pollution in a quote to The Hill, which ran in over 100 other outlets. She warned this move will bring “more lung cancers, more heart attacks, more premature births—more families hit with the stress and trauma of illness. This is the opposite of Make America Healthy Again!”
- Common Dreams quotes Senior National Field Director Patrice Tomcik condemning the EPA for delaying the implementation of 2024 U.S. EPA Methane Standards and endangering the health of children across the nation.
- Yale Climate Connections interviewed Karin Stein, Iowa Field Organizer and SonTierra ensemble leader, on how music allows her to express concerns about air pollution and climate change in a feature than ran on over 700 local radio stations across the nation.
Honorable mentions
Over the last few weeks, Moms also earned a mention in North Country Now.
Tell Congress: Hold Zeldin Accountable for Corrupting EPA’s Mission