Climate Crisis Will Intensify Strong Winter Storms, Climate Scientist Warns
As the Northeast United States contends with the aftermath of a historic bomb cyclone blizzard that blanketed the region, we speak to climate scientist Michael Mann about the causes and effects of increasingly intense weather events. “We expect to see that increase as long as we continue to warm up the planet by burning fossil fuels and putting carbon pollution into the atmosphere,” says Mann.
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Health Professionals, Scientists, and Kids Sue the EPA Over Greenhouse Gas Rule
Two lawsuits filed Wednesday in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals mark the beginning of a rocky legal road for the Environmental Protection Agency following its reversal of a 2009 rule underpinning federal regulation of greenhouse gas emissions. The challenges include a lawsuit brought against both the EPA and its administrator, Lee Zeldin, by a coalition of 17 health and environmental groups…
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Data center giant secures $14 million deal to consume 40% of Pennsylvania town’s excess water
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Feb. 16, 2026. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
An artificial intelligence data center development venture has signed a multimillion-dollar deal that will allow it to consume over 40% of a Pennsylvania town’s excess water supply.
PennLive reported on Monday that Carlisle Development Partners, a joint venture created by developers Pennsylvania Data Center Partners and PowerHouse Data Centers, had signed a $14.1 million agreement that will let it tap into the public water and sewer systems of Middlesex Township, Pennsylvania.
According to PennLive, the deal will formalize the 18-building data center’s right to access up to 400,000 gallons of water per day, which the publication notes is “equal to the consumption of 2,367 dwelling units.”
Middlesex Township Supervisor Phil Neiderer said during a recent planning commission meeting that the big influx of revenue to the local government would more than make up for the massive amounts of water being consumed by the data center.
“What that’s going to do is it’s going to fund a lot of projects that have already been in the books that are completely unrelated to the data center,” Neiderer said, according to PennLive.
In recent months, residents of Middlesex Township and Cumberland County have raised concerns about not only water use but also pollution and utility rates tied to the project.
AI data centers have become a major controversy throughout the US in recent months, as their massive energy needs have pushed up utility bills and put a strain on communities’ water supplies.
A study published in the journal Nature Sustainability last year found that data centers could soon consume as much water as 10 million Americans and emit as much carbon dioxide as 10 million cars, or roughly the
Data Center Boom Is Fueling an Expansion of Natural Gas Projects
Boom Supersonic wants to build the world’s first commercial supersonic airliner. Founded in 2014, the company set out to make air travel dramatically faster — up to twice the speed of today’s passenger jets — while also aiming for a smaller environmental footprint. For years, Boom has focused on developing the high-performance engine technology needed to sustain supersonic flight.
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Grassroots Organizers in Wisconsin Offer Blueprint for Beating Back Data Centers
Data centers are big business. Around 3,000 new data centers — huge buildings that house the computing power that props up the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) — are currently being built or planned across the U.S. Some speculate that global spending on data centers could hit $3 trillion by 2029. Corporate interests — from energy firms and construction companies…
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