Dr. LaKeshia N. Myers
By LaKeshia N. Myers
The gleaming promise of artificial intelligence (AI) comes with a dirty secret that corporate America would rather keep hidden in the shadows. While tech moguls like Elon Musk tout their artificial intelligence (AI) innovations as revolutionary breakthroughs, the environmental and health costs of this digital revolution are being dumped squarely on the doorsteps of Black and brown communities across America.
The latest battleground is Memphis, Tennessee, where Musk’s X (formerly Twitter) AI company operates its massive “Colossus” supercomputer facility. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Southern Environmental Law Center have filed notice of their intent to sue the company over what they call a blatant violation of environmental justice principles. The company has violated federal law by installing dozens of methane gas turbines at its data center without any of the required permits or the best available pollution controls.
This isn’t just about paperwork and permits – it’s about the fundamental right to breathe clean air. The turbines have reportedly emitted hazardous pollutants, including formaldehyde, exceeding Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limits. These aren’t abstract statistics; they represent real health threats to real families living in predominantly Black neighborhoods surrounding the facility.
The Memphis case exemplifies a troubling pattern in the AI industry’s expansion. Time and again, we see these energy-hungry data centers sprouting up in communities that lack the political power to fight back. It’s environmental racism in digital clothing, where the benefits of AI innovation flow to wealthy tech executives while the pollution flows to communities of color.
But air quality is just one piece of the environmental puzzle. The water consumption demands of AI are staggering and largely invisible to the public. By 2028, AI in the US could require as much as 720 billion gallons of water annually to cool AI servers, enough water to meet the indoor needs of millions of households. This massive water consumption comes at a time when communities across the country are struggling with drought conditions and aging water infrastructure.
The mathematics of inequality are stark. A user who engages with ChatGPT between 10 and 50 times causes a data center to consume half a liter of water. Multiply that by millions of daily users, and you’re looking at water consumption that could rival entire cities – water that’s often diverted from communities that need it most.
What makes this particularly galling is the hypocrisy. Major tech companies have spent years marketing themselves as champions of environmental sustainability and social justice. They’ve made grand pledges about carbon neutrality and diversity while quietly building infrastructure that perpetuates environmental injustice. The AI boom has exposed these commitments as little more than public relations theater.
The solution isn’t to abandon AI technology – it’s to demand accountability and justice in how it’s developed and deployed. Companies like X must be held to the same environmental standards as any other industrial operation. They must obtain proper permits, implement pollution controls, and engage meaningfully with affected communities before breaking ground.
Moreover, we need a broader conversation about the true costs of our digital convenience. Every AI query, every automated response, every “smart” recommendation comes with an environmental price tag that someone, somewhere is paying. Too often, that someone lives in a community that’s already overburdened with pollution and lacks the resources to fight back.
The NAACP’s legal action in Memphis represents more than just one lawsuit – it’s a line in the sand. It says that the era of environmental sacrifice zones for the sake of technological progress must end. Black and brown communities will not be the dumping ground for Silicon Valley’s externalities.
The future of AI doesn’t have to be built on environmental injustice. But achieving that future requires vigilance, activism, and a commitment to ensuring that the benefits and burdens of technological progress are shared equitably. The fight in Memphis is just the beginning. I encourage the public to reach out to their elected officials to enact regulations on AI usage and environmental data consumption across the country. This issue is yet another fight in the civil rights frontier, and we cannot sit idly by. This requires proactive activism.