It’s not just Climate Week NYC here in Gotham—it’s the Unplug AI Week of Action! A broad coalition of activists has organized a week of events targeting OpenAI, Amazon, and Google calling for a stop to the AI-pocalypse, which is coming first and foremost in the form of a mad acceleration of the burning of fossil fuels.

I’m shamelessly promoting this before I head off to cover Climate Week with regular posts on Bluesky. Yesterday, I learned about the public-power movement both past—from historians Sandeep Vaheesan and Ashley Dawson—and present—from legislators Emily Gallagher, Sarahana Shrestha, and Chi Ossé. They made the strong case that we’re not going to solve the climate crisis unless we kick investors out of the picture.¹

Big Tech wants to use AI to replace the working class and make themselves rich. To do this they need to build data centers across the country that raise our utility bills, pollute our communities, and cook the climate for compute. Our government has the power to protect us from Big Tech by enforcing the law against their crime spree. That’s why OpenAI executive Greg Brockman invested $25 million into Trump’s super PAC earlier this year, making him Trump's top donor. Join the rally against OpenAI’s massive data center buildout, their support for authoritarian leaders, and to demand our elected officials protect our communities and our future:

4 pm - Meet Up and March at Sarah D Roosevelt Park (Chrystie St and Houston St)

5 pm - Rally at Open AI Offices 295 Lafayette St, Manhattan

Once known for co-founding the Climate Pledge, Amazon is now investing in killer data centers, including a massive fracked-gas plant that would become the largest single source of climate pollution in the country. Join Bill McKibben, former tech worker Holly Alpine, Amazon Employees for Climate Justice worker Kavita Sthanumurthy, and frontline data center fighters to hear about the role Amazon is playing in the massive buildout of fossil-fueled AI data centers.

11:30am - Rally at the corner of 5th Ave & 39th St near Amazon's Office JFK27

AI is not inevitable. We don’t have to wait passively while the tech oligarchs race to consolidate political and economic power in their own hands. We can pause this technology while we evaluate how to use it for good, not evil. Join a family-friendly action outside Google's Chelsea offices to support a moratorium on data center construction and on AI use in schools.

4:30pm - Google Offices at 111 8th Ave, Manhattan

The data center boom is driving demand for fossil fuels. Fracked gas plants that should have been shut down years ago are still online and ones that are scheduled to close are trying desperately to stay open. This is the case with the Gowanus fracked gas plant. Join community leaders to demand the Gowanus fracked gas plant is closed permanently and never used to power AI data centers.

6:00pm - Gowanus Fracked Gas Plant at 29th St & 2nd Ave, Brooklyn

Climate Action Today:

Here’s a look at a few of the most interesting Climate Week NYC events happening today:

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].