Trump is giving data centers a pass to pollute
Trump is giving data centers a pass to pollute

President Donald Trump is weakening environmental regulations in the name of speeding up the construction of AI data centers, raising health risks for Americans, a cadre of former EPA officials said this week in a briefing and new report. They are urging – perhaps futilely – the president to adopt a “Data Center Health Protection […]

Arizona’s lifeline for chip manufacturing is drying up
Arizona’s lifeline for chip manufacturing is drying up

Arizona, an epicenter for the bipartisan push to revive American chip manufacturing, is about to lose more than a quarter of the water it typically pulls each year from the Colorado River. The 1,400-mile waterway is a crucial lifeline for the region and other western states. A recent federal decision on how to manage its […]

Google says its AI weather model is getting better
Google says its AI weather model is getting better

Google is rolling out an updated AI weather model that’s supposed to be more accurate, especially when it comes to predicting rain and snowfall. In the announcement today, the company says it’s now able to make forecasts with “unprecedented resolution” using its new WeatherNext 3 AI model. It can produce a global picture that’s five […]

Tim Cook did alright by the environment — but AI could upend his climate legacy
Tim Cook did alright by the environment — but AI could upend his climate legacy

As he steps down from his post as Apple CEO today, Tim Cook leaves behind a mostly positive environmental record. As far as billionaire tech moguls and the environment go, Cook will likely be remembered as one of the better ones – certainly far from the worst. But it will become harder for the company […]

Trump’s EPA wants to let data centers hide their air pollution
Trump’s EPA wants to let data centers hide their air pollution

Just as new data centers face growing backlash from neighboring communities, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is about to make it harder for people to weigh in on any pollution those centers create. The EPA plans to toss out a federal rule requiring public notice and an opportunity to comment when certain industrial sites […]

Being a mom is hard — the heat is making it harder
Being a mom is hard — the heat is making it harder

It’s 8:52 AM and 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 Celsius) where I live in Southern California. My husband just came back from a morning outing with our four-month-old. “How was the botanic garden?” I ask him. “It was okay. It was just too hot,” he tells me. I didn’t expect us to spend so much of […]

An Amazon data center could have the worst polluting power plant in the country
An Amazon data center could have the worst polluting power plant in the country

To power its new West Texas data center, Amazon is investing in the construction of a new power plant that could be one of the largest single producers of greenhouse gases in the US, according to The New York Times. The new gas-burning plant in Pecos County, Texas, has received significant investment from Amazon and, […]

Who’s afraid of the big, bad GPU?
Who’s afraid of the big, bad GPU?

How does AI make you feel? Are you excited to “vibe-code” your smart home? Or anxious about all the added pollution and billions of gallons of water used by data centers? Dig a little deeper and you’ll start to question the actual value of the GPUs that underpin all the leaps and promises of generative […]

The grueling, 630-mile road race where the only fuel is sunlight
The grueling, 630-mile road race where the only fuel is sunlight

On July 19th, dozens of teams of high school students will begin a five-day, 630-mile road race from Fort Worth to Fort Stockton in Texas. But this is not your typical contest. The students design and build the cars themselves, using off-the-shelf parts and 3D printed materials. The winner is the team that accumulates the […]

Microsoft’s carbon emissions went up 25 percent last year
Microsoft’s carbon emissions went up 25 percent last year

Microsoft may once again be struggling to keep up with its own climate goals, according to its 2026 sustainability report. As reported by GeekWire, the report states that Microsoft’s carbon emissions increased 25 percent in 2025, totalling 34 million metric tons “without select interventions.” Microsoft says this was “driven primarily by the expansion of our […]