Grateful for the cooler spring temperatures returning after the summer temperatures last week, but I was looking forward to rain this weekend. We soooo need rain across NC! And many other states!
The City of Raleigh is beginning Stage 1 water-use restrictions beginning today. Scroll to page 8 for the restrictions here.
So much going on! Thanks for reading and for taking action!
April 20, Stop the Madness: A Call for Data Center Moratoria
7 pm, online
Hear from Third Act Lawyers, Public Citizen, and Food & Water Watch on how to campaign locally to halt the rapid expansion of AI-driven data centers. Register here.
April 21, Sanford City Council Hearing on Data Center Rules
Sanford is holding a public hearing on a set of rules for data centers. They could possibly vote to approve these rules the same night. More info and talking points here.
April 21, Debunking Data Centers: Jobs and Labor
5:30 pm, online
Hosted by Labor Network for Sustainability, Jobs with Justice, Food & Water Watch, and Climate Justice Alliance.This webinar will illuminate new data and framing on jobs and labor associated with data centers. Register here.
April 22, From Paycheck to Planet: An Earth Day Teach-In on Making Your Retirement Fund Climate-Safe
3 pm, online
Hosted by Stand.earth. At a moment of growing legal scrutiny over how retirement fiduciaries manage climate risk, workers have more power than they know. This teach-in is designed to give you the tools you need to ensure your money is not being invested in climate destruction. We have the power to move trillions of dollars away from fossil fuels. Register here.
April 22 – June 24, Data Center Policy in Practice Training Series
Wednesdays, 1-2 pm
Organized by AI Now Institute and the Data Center Working Group. The 8-part North Star Data Center Policy in Practice training series lays out affirmative, enforceable policy pathways at the local, state, and federal levels to stop, slow, and restrict the rapid expansion of AI data centers across the US. Each session dives deep into specific policy areas from the North Data Center Policy toolkit, featuring expert-led analysis and real-world strategies from local and state organizers. The series will cover bans and moratoriums to zoning, water, energy, transparency, air quality, and beyond. Register here.
April 23, Durham City Council Work Session: Moratorium on data centers will be proposed!
1 pm, Durham City Hall, 101 City Hall Plaza, Durham
Attend and comment in support of an ordinance to put a 32-month moratorium on data centers in the city of Durham. Here is a link with how to comment at a city council work session. You can also email your support for a moratorium to: [email protected].
April 25-26, Piedmont Farm Tour
The Piedmont Farm Tour, hosted by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association and Weaver Street Market for 29 years is an annual celebration of sustainable, local food ,and farming in North Carolina’s Piedmont region. More info and register here.
April 25, Communities Not Cages: National Day of Action to Stop ICE Warehouse Detention
A nationwide mobilization against the Trump administration’s reckless expansion of ICE warehouse detention and its assault on the due process rights of immigrants and all Americans.
Join an exciting festival celebrating solar energy, community resilience, and youth engagement! The purpose of this event is to increase awareness and support for clean energy policies, especially rooftop solar with battery storage, while fostering community through fun, learning and collaboration. Register here.
April 27-June 3, Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina: Legacy of Survival and Sovereignty Virtual Series
Wake County Public Libraries is sponsoring this virtual 4-part series. Register here.
April 28, Not One More Death In The Fields” – A Call To All Faith Communities + Allies
3 pm, 3313 Wade Ave, Raleigh
Hosted by El Futuro Es Nuestro. Farmworkers are dying from heat. This is preventable. Join us for a vigil and call to action. More information from Leticia Zavala here.
Duke Energy Rate Hike Hearings
There are four more public hearings left that begin at 7 pm in each city. Charlotte and Durham have rallies before the hearings. More below.
April 28, Morganton
April 29, Charlotte
Duke Energy Rate Hike Rally and Hearing
5:30 pm, 832 E 4th St, Charlotte
Tell NC Utilities Commissioners you want clean, affordable energy—not more rate hikes! The rally will be held in the plaza behind the courthouse. Parking at the Government Center parking deck. More info here.
May 6, Winston-Salem
May 12, Durham
Drag Down Our Electric Bills Rally
5:30 pm, Durham County Courthouse, 510 S Dillard St, Durham
Join us for a rally and drag show ahead of the Duke Energy rate hike hearing. Duke Energy wants to raise our bills to power big tech data centers. North Carolinians are having to choose between paying the light bill and paying for food, medicine, or rent!
**If you’re not able to attend the hearings, you can still submit a public comment to the NC Utility Commission at https://ncuc.gov/contactus.html Be sure to include Docket E-2 Sub 1380 for Duke Progress or Docket E-7 Sub 1329 for Duke Carolinas.
May 1, May Day 2026
Workers, students, and families rally, march, and take action across the country to demand a nation that puts workers over billionaires, with many refusing business as usual through No School. No Work. No Shopping.
May 4, Durham City Council Work Session: Moratorium on data centers up for a Vote!
7 pm, Durham City Hall,101 City Hall Plaza, Durham
Attend and comment in support of an ordinance to put a 32-month moratorium on data centers in the city of Durham.
May 11, Earth’s Greatest Enemy, a documentary film
11 am and 7 pm, Chelsea Theater, 1129 Weaver Dairy Rd., Suite AB, Chapel Hill
Two showings of the film by Abby Martin and Mike Prysner followed by a panel discussion. Exempt from international climate agreements and rarely scrutinized in mainstream reporting, the Pentagon is the world’s single largest institutional polluter—spewing carbon, contaminating water, and scarring landscapes across the globe. Combining investigative journalism, striking visuals, and stories from impacted communities, this film challenges audiences to rethink the hidden costs of a global military empire and its planetary consequences.
ACTIONS
The NC General Assembly begins their short session this week on April 21. There will be upcoming opportunities to take action as we watch this session closely!
Tell the EMC to protect our water and put public health over polluters’ interests! The Environmental Management Commission (EMC) wants to allow polluters to set their own targets for pollution reductions, with no consequences if pollution stays the same or even increases. Sign the petition here.
The EMC is also accepting comments and hosting hearings across the state. The Raleigh public hearing is tonight, April 20th, at the Dobbs Building at 6pm.
Protect the Dan River – Help ensure the Clean Water Act is Upheld & Indigenous Communities are Consulted here.
Fund Water Infrastructure to Stop PFAS Pollution in the Lumber Riverhere.
Stop Data Centers & Crypto Mining in Durham! Sign petition here.
Petition to Charlotte City Council: No Data Center in East Charlottehere.
As climate disasters like floods, fires, and hurricanes intensify, Big Oil companies are lobbying Congress for blanket immunity from any laws or legislation that could hold them accountable for fueling the crisis. Join us in urging Congress to reject Big Oil’s call for immunity and to protect our right to hold fossil fuel companies accountablehere!
Solar Net Metering. Campaign supported by the NC Council of Churches Eco-Justice Connection. Share with faith communities and other nonprofits with solar that you know! Petition for nonprofit organizations to be enabled to install and keep net metered solar under the Duke Energy “Legacy Net Metering Rider” here.
ARTICLES and RECORDINGS
North Carolina Must Change Course on Carbon Plan, Data Centers, other Climate and Energy Justice Issues by Sophie Loeb here.
The Global Energy Supply in a Decade ‘Is Not a World We’re Going to Recognize’ by Lisa Sorg here.
Why Biodiverse Gardens Are Political: Foodscaping as Resistance by Ingrid Fromm here.
A conversation with four leading thinkers, organizers, and trainers in the field of nonviolent action. Drawing from research, frontline organizing, and decades of experience, the panel explores how people are resisting authoritarian trends and building collective power through nonviolent strategies.
Recording of Fossil Fuel Treaty’s Santa Marta Network Briefinghere.
The First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels is being held in Santa Marta, Colombia April 24-29. More info here.
Recording of Imperialism, Ecocide, and Climate Justice: A Conversation with Dr. Rania Masri of the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network here.
‘Time for Half Measures Is Over’: Study Warns of Terrifying Atlantic Ocean Current Collapse by Stephen Prager here.
Managing disasters in this “bizarre moment”. Emily Sanders conversation with Dr. Samantha Montano here.
What Is the Economic Impact of Data Centers? It’s a Secret. By Lisa Sorg here.
It’s time to halt the AI data center boom, by Mitch Jones here.
The Sanders Institute hosted a conversation about AI & Robotics with Bernie Sanders, Naomi Klein, and Ro Khanna last week. Listen to a recording of the frightening and important conversation here.
Civil rights group sues xAI for illegal pollution from data center power planthere.
The AI Boom Is a Climate Bust by Mark Hertsgaard here.
Recording of Honor the Earth’s excellent webinar Decolonize U: AI & Data Centers 101 hereand link to more resources they shared here.
Hyperscale, Hyperspeed: Inside the Data Center Boom Reshaping NC Communities
In this 6-part series, BPR, the NC Newsroom, WFAE, and WUNC explore North Carolina’s accelerating data-center boom and its real impact on local communities. By following the money, the energy demands, and the promises made to communities, the project aims to reveal what’s at stake as the cloud moves into the state’s backroads.
U.S. Data Centers Tracker map from Frac Tracker Alliance here.
This dataset provides an in-progress tally of permitted, existing, and proposed data centers in the United States.
Hope and Imagination as the Antidotes to Fascism and Despair
The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali with Rebecca Solnit here.
Turn up the volume! Frogs at No Kings dancing to “War, what is it good for, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING” here.
