Erin Brockovich turns environmental activism toward data center secrecy
A Familiar Name Takes On Big Tech
Erin Brockovich, the environmental activist whose story became a Hollywood film starring Julia Roberts, is setting her sights on the tech industry. Brockovich, who gained national recognition for her work exposing chromium-6 contamination in the groundwater near Hinkley, California, has announced a new mission focused on data center secrecy.
Targeting Corporate Transparency
The campaign appears to center on demanding greater transparency from data center operators regarding their environmental footprint. Data centers have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years due to their massive energy consumption and water usage for cooling systems.
Growing Concerns About Data Centers
Data centers currently account for a significant portion of global electricity consumption, a figure projected to rise sharply as artificial intelligence workloads expand. The facilities also require substantial amounts of water for cooling, raising concerns about resource consumption in regions facing drought conditions.
Brockovich's involvement suggests she may apply the investigative techniques that defined her earlier work to uncover potential environmental hazards or regulatory gaps in the rapidly expanding data center industry.