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PA Board Accepts Petition | Environmental Integrity
Pennsylvania's Environmental Quality Board voted to accept a rulemaking petition from Clean Air Council and the Environmental Integrity Project seeking much larger fracking well setbacks: 3,281 feet from homes and drinking water wells, 5,280 feet from schools and hospitals, and 750 feet from surface water, replacing the state's current waivable 500- and 1,000-foot minimums. The…
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Data Center Growth Could Increase Electricity Bills 8% Nationally and as Much as 25% in Some Regional Markets | Carnegie Mellon University
The Open Energy Outlook Initiative projects data center and cryptocurrency mining growth raises national electricity costs 8 percent by 2030. Virginia sees increases over 25 percent. More than 25 gigawatts of aging coal plants stay online to meet demand, and power sector emissions rise 30 percent.
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How Increased Protective Buffer Zones Could Help Protect 3.6 million Pennsylvanians – FracTracker Alliance
Approximately 3.6 million Pennsylvanians live within fracking-feasible areas overlying the Marcellus and Utica Shale, including 697,000 children under 18. County-by-county tables from FracTracker Alliance quantify how much acreage remains open to well pad drilling under an expanded buffer zone, with the largest totals in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties.
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What You Need to Know About AI Data Centers
Earthjustice attorneys are suing Elon Musk's xAI over unpermitted power plant pollution and fighting gas-fired plants built solely to power AI data centers. This post covers how the facilities strain electricity grids, raise household rates, deplete water supplies, and hide contracts through non-disclosure agreements in states including Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Montana.
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Data Center Proposal Tracker
A public, searchable database tracks data center proposals and energy grid infrastructure across the United States. Built from public records, company announcements and local news, it maps known and approximate site boundaries and physical footprints for planned developments. Tracked investments span states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York, Michigan and West Virginia, several exceeding $25…
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SALDO and Zoning and Data Centers, Oh My! — Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services
Zoning ordinances and subdivision and land development ordinances (SALDO) let counties and municipalities decide where data centers can be built. They set standards for setbacks, noise, water use and decommissioning. Compares how West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania adopt each ordinance. Covers rezoning requests and ballot referendums. Notes West Virginia's House Bill 2014, which blocks local…
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Shapiro’s Data Center Order is Too Little Too Late For Impacted Communities
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order restricting data center development. It stops short of a pause and skips tax incentives estimated to cost the state $2 billion by 2031. The order requires developers to generate their own power, and a Food & Water Watch analysis finds these off-grid plants often use dirtier natural…
Exposing AI Data Center Threats and Harms