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Thou Shalt Not Kill Glaciers
The capital crimes of the carbon polluters also now include AI slop centers
Brad Johnson
August 27, 2026
PRESENTED BY A LESSER YELLOWLEGS
A real ad from 1962.
Among the capital crimes of the carbon polluters is the murder of glaciers. When glaciers are killed, people die. Usually it is the slow death of desertification, of towns and civilizations trickling away to dust, but sometimes the death is sudden and sharp, the explosion of a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) or the snapping of a glacier, weakened by decade after decade of fossil-fueled heating, millions of tons of ice catastrophically melting upon impact and raging in a torrent to scour away entire villages in seconds.
Today's flood in Nepal has damaged our homes and land, and also caused physical harm to us.
— Bhim Adhikari 🇳🇵 (@bhimabish.bsky.social)2026-08-26T14:04:28.336Z
As regular Hill Heat readers (and just about everyone else) are aware, the techno-Moloch worshippers of Silicon Valley are in an unholy alliance with the fossil-fuel industry to convert all society into a data-center construction zone, relying on Donald Trump and his acolytes to serve as the vulgarian shock troops.
People keep abbreviating Rocky Horror Picture Show as RHPS and my brain keeps going 'Red Hot Pilli Seppers"
— Ray (@sireviscerate.myatproto.social)2026-08-27T17:38:48.627Z
It’s still August, I’m still on “vacation,” so Imajustgonna drop some bangers by better reporters on the Rise of the Slop Machines:
The amount of gas-fired power in development for data centers in the US has nearly doubled in less than a year, new research released Tuesday shows. The findings illustrate just how heavily tech companies are relying on building private fossil fuel plants to power data centers—and how fast artificial intelligence’s energy demand has grown.
E.P.A. Moves to Curb Public Input on Data Centers, by Maxine Joselow:
The Trump administration is moving to make it harder for communities to weigh in on proposed data centers, even as a backlash against the behemoth projects grows across the country. The Environmental Protection Agency plans to eliminate a federal requirement that states publicize and solicit public input on applications for air pollution permits for a range of industrial facilities, including new data centers and the power plants needed to run them.
AI Is Making Everything Worse by Garrett Graff:
AI has arrived in American life and communities across the country as a giant turd mountain. No one wants it; it makes everything worse when it arrives; and it’s been pushed and backed and cheerled by the absolute worst people in modern American life.
The GOP’s Data Center Panic, by Philip Elliott:
“Communities that don't take a data center, they're making a mistake,” Trump said of the swelling number of localities banning such sites during an interview last week.
It usually goes poorly for Republican candidates running counter to Trump. But on this issue, Trump's position will only make it tougher for Republicans to convince voters that they are really willing to push back on the A.I. buildout.1
Charting the Rise of Tech Fascism by Brian Merchant:
The tech elite may have the wealth, the influence, and the ear of the president, but not even that can insulate them from a growing mass movement, increasingly intent on taking them on. And we have every reason to think that what we’re seeing now is only the beginning.
The “big surprise” of the 2026 midterms: Humans don’t really want to be replaced by peaker-plant-powered AI slop machines!
EHRMAGERD, JERBS!
The great climate reporter Sabrina Shankman is moving on from the Boston Globe; she’ll be a professor at the University of New Hampshire teaching climate reporting (and is still open to pitches for stories)
Democratic climate policy expert Aria Kovalovich has launched Augusta Advisory, a boutique climate and energy policy consultancy. Aria was a lead investigator into the ExxonKnew case for both Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
The Sierra Club is hunting for the next director of their Beyond Coal Campaign ($210K-$220K, remote).
Spotlight PA and Grist are hiring an environmental reporter to cover climate stories in Pennsylvania ($65K-$75K, Pa.)
The New York Times is hiring a climate policy correspondent ($125K-$160K, D.C.) and a correspondent on the economics of a warming world ($125K-$160K, N.Y.C.).
Climate Mayors is looking for a project manager ($80K-$85K, remote).
The Center for Climate and Security at the Council on Strategic Risks is hiring a program and community manager ($95K-$130K, D.C.).
Thanks for subscribing and spreading the word. If you’ve got job listings, event listings, or other hot news, I want to hear it. Connect with me—@climatebrad.hillheat.com on BlueSky and @[email protected].
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1 House GOP leadership is all-in on the Trump-data-center boosterism. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.): “There's some communities like mine in Louisiana that welcome them with open arms. We have many of them under construction and my district and my constituents are delighted to have them.” Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.): “There are tremendous benefits for communities who embrace data centers … They’re good customers, they’re good neighbors and studies prove that they don’t add to the cost of the grid. They’re paying their own way.”
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