This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.  It was originally published at Balls and Strikes.

Since August of last year, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has been building and operating a fleet of gas-fired combustion turbines in Memphis-area Black neighborhoods, in order to power a massive data center called Colossus. Each turbine is the size of a single-family home. 

As of five weeks ago, xAI has installed at least 57 of these turbines at the Colossus Gas Plant in Southaven, Mississippi, about 15 minutes south of Memphis. Combined, they have the potential to spew over 5,300 tons of nitrogen oxides and 430 tons of particulate matter into the atmosphere every year, among other hazardous air pollutants. 

Even short-term exposure to nitrogen oxides or particulate matter can cause hospitalization and premature death. And some communities are especially vulnerable: Scientific evidence shows that children, older adults, and people of color—especially Black people—face heightened health risks. Nearly 160,000 people live within a six-mile radius of the Colossus Gas Plant. Around 22 percent of them are children or older adults, and 77 percent are people of color. U.S. Census Bureau data further shows that many neighborhoods near the plant have a higher percentage of people of color and children than 95 percent of other census tracts.

In short, xAI is releasing a staggering amount of pollutants into the environment, precisely where it can do the most harm.

There are (in theory) laws about this sort of thing. Roughly 60 years ago, Congress passed the Clean Air Act in order to “protect and enhance the quality of the Nation’s air resources,” and in doing so, “promote the public health and welfare........

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