Notices by Gerry McGovern (gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green)

It's as sick as it gets. The Green Transition team wiping out the last of the uncontacted Indigenous. Who would have guessed? Who would have guessed? Isn't all this "green"and "clean" energy free and without consequences?

"Irresponsible mining for critical minerals, like those used in renewable technologies, can threaten the existence of Indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, who are amongst the world’s most vulnerable populations."

https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/should-mining-companies-consider-no-go-zones-where-isolated-indigenous-peoples-live-commentary/

Respect to the environmentalists who put their lives on the line every day so that all of us can have a better future.

Ricardo, human rights lawyer, Antonio, an Indigenous leader, were forcibly disappeared on January 15, 2023, after achieving legal victories that empowered their community to defend Indigenous rights and influence mining development. Their whereabouts remain unknown, and their loved ones continue to demand their immediate search and safe return.

https://losangelespress.org/english-edition/two-years-without-ricardo-lagunes-and-antonio-diaz-20250115-10767.html

"When you enter a prompt in ChatGPT, it goes through thousands of calculations to figure out the best possible answer. To keep the servers from overheating, they need water. Depending on where the data center is based, it uses a different amount of water. In West Des Moines, Microsoft uses 6% of the water. In Oregon, Google uses 25% of the water in their town. [Shakes a 16-oz water bottle]. Chat GPT uses this much water every time you 100-word email. So stop using it."

https://whattheythink.com/articles/122447-ai-destroying-planet/

"Water's a limited resource," assembly member Diane Papan told Politico. "I’m trying to make it so we are prepared and ahead of the curve as we pursue new technology." Water use of major tech companies has skyrocketed over the last two years thanks to the tremendous number of new AI data centers. Case in point, Microsoft's water use shot up from 6.4 million cubic meters in 2022 to 7.8 in 2023, in large part due to the "construction of more data centers."

https://futurism.com/politicians-blame-los-angeles-fires-ai-data-centers

When it comes to water, AI and the data centers will get priority. You can be sure of that.

"UK Labour’s first artificial intelligence growth zone will be sited close to the UK’s first new reservoir in 30 years, sparking fears that the AI push will add to the “severe pressure” on water supplies in the area."

All aboard for the final greedy ride of the Growth Death Cult

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jan/13/labour-ai-datacentre-growth-zone-water-shortages-abingdon-reservoir

"Madagascar is home to weird and wonderful creatures that occur nowhere else on the planet. In many parts of the island, this biodiversity is under pressure due to wildlife trafficking, industrial-scale fishing and the destruction of forests. Yet it is fast becoming one of the world’s most dangerous places for those who work to protect the environment."

https://news.mongabay.com/2025/01/you-have-to-be-passionate-interview-with-turtle-survival-alliances-hery-razafimamonjiraibe/

One of the most dangerous jobs in the world is that of the environmental protector. Why should that be?

"If Americans knew these facts, they might want what Europe has, a more egalitarian society, with better healthcare and better quality of life. I don’t expect American media to be sharing this data with their viewers anytime soon, so share this blog with an American friend in that bottom 90% that thinks they are so better off than the rest of world. If they demanded a move away from GDP growth towards quality of life, they might just be richer, and healthier, happier."
https://degrowthistheanswer.substack.com/p/americans-dont-know-how-good-they

When someone challenged Elon Musk, son of South African mining oligarchs, about the US government organizing a coup in Bolivia in order to guarantee cheap lithium, Musk’s response was short and sharp: “We will coup whoever we want,” he said. “Deal with it.” Or when Teague Egan, founder and CEO of EnergyX, saw Bolivia’s lithium-rich salt flats he said: “This is what I’m going to fucking conquer!” He boasted that he would make a New Bolivia. Classic tech bros.

https://greenrocks.substack.com/p/lithium-copper-cobalt-nickel-climate-mining-beiser-scheyder

“We need to stop this compulsion to cover everything with asphalt and cement. The sinuosity of riverbeds is unbearable for the straight, concrete, upright minds of those who work in urban planning.”
Ailton Krenak
Ancestral Future

"While debates rage about AI’s potential to outsmart humans or take over jobs, a more immediate threat is quietly unfolding. The rapid expansion of data centers, which power AI systems, is contributing to a significant increase in air pollution. This pollution, often overlooked in discussions about AI’s risks, poses a serious danger to public health."

https://farmingdale-observer.com/2025/01/05/ai-threatens-our-lives-not-reason-you-think-hidden-danger-revealed/

In the US, datacenters can consume anywhere between 300,000 and four million gallons of water a day.

By 2027 global AI demand could account for the withdrawal of 4.2-6.6 billion cubic meters of water annually. That's roughly the equivalent of half the UK's water withdrawal over the course of a year.

Evaporating ten gallons a minute is enough to cool roughly 1.5 megawatts of compute.

Even though we have a global water crisis, data center water is super cheap.

https://www.theregister.com/AMP/2025/01/04/how_datacenters_use_water/

“The amount of water needed per semiconductor wafer manufactured increased from 133.4 L per 12 inch equivalent wafer to to 176.4 L per 12 inch equivalent wafer (an increase of 32 percent.”

https://electronicplanet.xyz/2025/01/04/is-net-positive-water-a-thing/

Every year, chips become more toxic, more energy and water intense, and less recyclable. Welcome to the world of Big Tech.

“Humans are accepting the humiliating condition of consuming the earth … the will of capital is to impoverish existence. Capitalism wants a grim and monotonous world where we operate like robots. We cannot accept that.”
Ailton Krenak
Ancestral Future

Ecocide Google

“In 2023, Google imposed “expiration dates” on Chromebooks, restricting the length of time they’ll support these devices, even if the hardware remains perfectly functional. This year, Google will cease support for 13 Chromebook models. Next year, 51 more will join the list of unsupported devices. This essentially forces users to retire their Chromebooks, even though many are still in good working order.”

https://fernandinaobserver.com/stories/the-reality-of-chromebooks-as-disposable-computers,41669

The absolute horrors of AI

“And the only results on the entire internet for those questions were AI generated lies, which are perfectly composed, sound factual, but use the names of real organisms in completely made-up ways, saying that the rainbow boa, which is a real snake, is vegetarian, which it is not. Or that a long list of plants are edible bromeliads when they're neither edible nor bromeliads.”

https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2024/12/31/ai-content-humanity-neuroscience-digital

Land change and water have a much bigger impact on climate than C02

75% of Earth’s land surface has been significantly altered. 85% of wetlands are gone. Between 2010 and 2015, over 123,000 square miles of primary forest were lost.

“Land change has had the largest relative negative impact on Nature since 1970.”

https://theclimateaccordingtolife.substack.com/p/are-ecology-and-climate-the-same

“Data centers in the United States are consuming so much power that they may be impacting the flow of electricity to millions of Americans. AI data centers are sprouting up across the country to meet the increased demand for AI, but they're also sucking up the power on which millions of Americans rely.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ai-data-centers-making-electricity-195931467.html

“The most investment on AI data centers is being done by Microsoft, with most spent on GPUs($20 billion) and other AI spend ($20 billion) which makes total capex of $40 billion. The cost spent on training and R&D by Microsoft is $3 billion, cost on inference is $3 billion which makes total operating cost of $6 billion. This makes a total of $46 billion that Microsoft is spending on AI data centers.”

https://www.digitalinformationworld.com/2024/12/the-hidden-cost-of-innovation-how-tech.html

“As Investigate West reported, the scammers took over a 140-year-old newspaper called the Ashland Daily Tidings. This newspaper was once a legitimate news source but closed operations in 2023. Artificial intelligence invaders have been emerging onto local news scenes, with websites hiding who is producing them. They are impersonating actual reporters and spreading misinformation driven by advertising dollars.”

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/residents-stunned-after-140-year-old-community-staple-is-replaced-by-ai-its-maddening/ar-AA1wB61H

The horror of AI: Part 63,345

“Last year, a human rights and environmental watchdog group determined that 177 land defenders were killed in 2022. Land defenders are people who seek to protect their communities and environmental resources from destructive development projects ranging from pipelines to mines to farms to wind projects.”

https://ictnews.org/news/study-indigenous-land-defenders-more-likely-to-be-attacked-than-others