Southwest Memphis, Tennessee, a mostly low-income African American community, is home to 18 industrial facilities, emitting dangerous pollution that has sickened a growing number of residents. After neighbors organized to force one facility to shut down, billionaire Trump DOGE hit man, Elon Musk, came in a month later with another highly polluting project — his xAI artificial intelligence company data center.
Musk began building the center in June 2024 without any permits and which local authorities seemed helpless to prevent. None of the 35 methane gas turbines that help power xAI’s massive supercomputer are equipped with pollution controls typically required under federal rules and the company has no Clean Air Act permits.
Now the community is fighting back and building a coalition beyond Memphis and beyond Tennessee to shut Musk’s data center down. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with KeShaun Pearson, executive director of Memphis Community Against Pollution, which is leading the effort, who talks about the campaign to protect his neighbor’s health.
For more information, visit Memphis Community Against Pollution at
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