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Comment by WarmWash | Hacker News Reader

First of all, what is datacenter pollution?

Second, why is the article trying so hard to make datacenters out as racist?

The pollution is the immense amount of exhaust from the power generation equipment being installed on site at data centres.

The article is from Capital B, which focuses on news affecting the Black community.

> Second, why is the article trying so hard to make datacenters out as racist?

AI Datacenters are classist.

Because of their negative externalities they will always be constructed near the poor who have the least political power.

Humans are racist.

So there is a strong systemic correlation between that group of disenfranchised people and people of color.

The most directly harmful impacts of datacenters are racist, transitively.

We're in a county with a coal plant and an oil refinery. Somehow people are more concerned about potential data center pollution.

Pollution happens when you don't have enough power in the grid so you will bring either diesel generators or methane turbines to make power.

Also noise is pollution too.

With diesel over $6/gallon now that's probably not too attractive. Natural gas probably more likely, and less polluting at least as far as particulates go. CO2 still created.

Are all new data centers being built with on-site power generation (for regular operations, not just emergency backup)? I'd assume they'd prefer utility power where they could get it.

Diesel generators are mostly for emergencies. Natural gas turbines (many of which are or are derived from jumbo jet engines) are for on-prem power generation.

Read up on Musk's Tennessee data center for an example of the kind of pollution under discussion.

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260811-memphis-ai-da...

Yeah, but just being a human is enough to qualify for not living in a smog cloud.

Also the article is trying to connect gas turbines from 2 years ago with cancer rates..

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