We’re in another heat wave as I write this. Hope you’re taking care of yourselves. Stay hydrated!
There are several data center moratorium meetings in Alamance, Lee, and Durham Counties and Greensboro. If you didn’t catch the first two virtual showings of VS Goliath, or if you want to see them in person with others in community, join us as 7 Directions of Service hosts the showings August 26-27 in Chapel Hill. More information on all of this and more actions you can take below!
August 7 – September 27, The Wild Wisdom of the World
6:15 – 8 pm, weekends at the Forest Theatre, Chapel Hill
Paperhand’s 26th annual giant puppet production featuring masks, huge puppets, stilts, shadows and illuminated creatures all brought to life with live original music by the Paperhand band! This show is all about belonging to the living landscape of the Earth. It’s about becoming the courageous creative beings that we need to be to face what is ahead. More information and order your tickets here. (The latest show is GREAT!!)
August 17, Lee County Commissioners meeting
6 pm, Lee County Main Library Multi-Purpose Room, 1740 Bragg Street, Sanford
PointOne Data Centers wants to build a huge data center complex on a 430-acre site in Lee County, according to paperwork on file with the local planning department.
August 17, Alamance County Board of Commissioners meeting
6:30 pm, Alamance County Historic Courthouse, 1 Court Square, Graham
Business Meeting on Data Center Moratorium.
August 17, Greensboro City Councilmeeting
4 pm, Katie Dorsett Council Chamber at the Melvin Municipal Office Building, 300 W. Washington St., Greensboro
Work Session for Public Input on Data Center Moratorium.
August 18, Understanding Duke Energy’s Political Power in North Carolina with Sue Sturgis
6 pm, online
Hosted by NC WARN. Hear from Sue Sturgis, Research and Communications Manager of the Energy & Policy Institute, to learn more about Duke Energy’s monopoly and political influence in North Carolina, how it affects our communities, and why meaningful change is possible. Register here.
August 18, Stop Data Centers In Durham Strategy Meeting & Social!
6-8 pm, Nuestro Barrio, 458 Driver St. Durham
In June we won a citywide moratorium on data centers in Durham, and we’re currently organizing to push our County Commissioners to pass one that is as strong or stronger to cover the county. Register here.
August 19, You Passed a Data Center Moratorium; Now What?!
1-2:30 pm
This 90-minute workshop explores policy tools and organizing strategies to build permanent protections against the data center buildout, so moratoriums generate momentum toward lasting change. We will feature case studies from local organizers discussing different post-moratorium models, review policy approaches for varying political environments, highlight strategies to counter industry retaliation, and hold breakout discussions for participants to workshop their specific challenges and questions. Register here.
August 24, Durham County Commissioners’ meeting
6 pm rally, 7 pm meeting 200 E. Main Street
Turn out for this final hearing and vote on a Durham County data center moratorium! Keep up to date on stopping data centers in Durham with updates from Community Land and Power here.
August 25, Pipelines and Data Centers: What’s the Connection?
6:30-8 pm
North Carolina and Virginia are facing a massive buildout of methane gas infrastructure. Why? To meet the growing demand of data center development. Along the routes of two new massive methane gas pipelines, the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP) and the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate (MVPS), we are seeing growing proposals for data centers and gas-fired power plants. This is sounding the alarm that where the gas flows, the data centers follow. Register here.
August 26 and 27, VS. GOLIATH: Stories from the Frontlines
6 pm, Varsity Theatre, 123 E Franklin St, Chapel Hill
Hosted by 7 Directions of Service, join us for a special two-night gathering bringing together film, environmental justice, Indigenous leadership, and community action. Through documentary film, conversation, and community action, we will travel from Appalachia and Cancer Alley to the Greater Chaco region, hearing from communities confronting some of the most consequential environmental justice struggles in the country.
1 pm, Chelsea Theater, 1129 Weaver Dairy Rd., Chapel Hill
Earth’s Greatest Enemy reveals a hidden truth behind the climate crisis: the role of the U.S. military as the world’s largest institutional polluter. Featuring a virtual Q&A with Director, Abby Martin. A trailer with more info and tickets here.
September 19, Revitalization Day
10 am- 3 pm, 700 South McDaniel Street, Enfield
Halifax County is one of the most energy-burdened counties in the state, and we are trying to build something different here, a community that owns its own energy future. 700 McDaniel is the house becoming our Weatherization Hub, and on the 19th you can walk it and see the before and after for yourself. There will be BBQ plates while they last, live music, shade, a kids’ art table, and a community electric vehicle showcase, right across the street in the Market Plus IGA lot, and part of National Drive Electric Month. More information and register here.
Save-the-dates
Oct 16-17, NC Environmental Justice Network 2026 Summit
“Rejecting the Myth of Inevitability – Organizing for Self-Determination”
Franklinton Center At Bricks, 281 Southbend Lane, Whitakers
October 30-Nov 1, 2026 Sustainable Agriculture Conference
Benton Convention Center, Winston-Salem,
The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association’s Sustainable Agriculture Conference brings together small-scale farmers, backyard gardeners and homesteaders, locavores, food systems changemakers, educators, and community leaders from across the region to learn, network, and build momentum and community focused on local, sustainable, and organic agriculture. More info and tickets are on sale here.
TAKE ACTION!
Tell FERC – Reject the Mountain Valley Pipeline Expansion!
Mountain Valley Pipeline wants to expand its interstate gas system through a proposal called MVP Boost. The project includes a massive new compressor station near homes, farms, and an active railroad in Elliston, Virginia. Communities should not have polluting fossil-fuel infrastructure forced on them—especially when local approval and state permitting remain unresolved. Sign and share the petition telling the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to listen to Southwest Virginia residents and reject MVP Boost here.
The NC Data Center Network has created an AI-Data Center Questionnaire for North Carolina Candidates that has been sent to all NC candidates. This short questionnaire is part of a statewide voter education effort on AI and data center development in North Carolina. It gives voters a direct opportunity to understand where candidates stand on these rapidly expanding issues. Please share the questionnaire with candidates in YOUR district to help encourage them to answer these questions! It will be great if the same candidates hear from several people! The link to share is here.
Take action for the Dan River! Tell Governors Spanberger and Stein to ensure Clean Water Act standards are upheld during pipeline construction and to meet with Indigenous communities to understand the potential risks and impacts of pipeline construction for Native communities moving forward. Sign here.
Oppose Enbridge’s proposed 28-mile pipeline through Chatham County. Learn more here.
Chatham County Residents Speak Out Against Proposed Enbridge Gas Pipeline by Henry Taylor here.
Why Are Data Centers Being Used to Justify New Pipelines? One-pager here.
Tell the EPA our voices matter! They want to get rid of the mandatory requirement for public comment periods for air pollution permits and leave it up to state discretion. More information on how to leave your comments by August 21 here.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act would BAN data centers and associated infrastructure on land owned or managed by the U.S. government, including on military bases. Send a message to Congress demanding that they pass the No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act here.
Urge Congress to Oppose Immunity for Big Oil!
Big Oil’s allies in Congress have introduced legislation to give the fossil fuel industry total legal immunity from liability and create barriers to justice for communities everywhere. We must stop them! Sign here.
Make Polluters Pay, Permanently!
Sign the petition: The global tax treaty that can make polluters pay here.
Every time oil and gas prices spike, from war, shortage, or plain market panic, big oil and gas companies cash in. We pay more at the pump and on our energy bills. They pay almost nothing extra in tax. But a new treaty is taking shape that could fix that and help fund the future we all want. For the first time ever, every country gets an equal say in global tax rules. And there’s a real chance that higher, permanent taxes on fossil fuel profits get written into the treaty, reclaiming trillions for climate protection and affordable clean energy for the people who need it most. Tell world governments to make sure this time, the worst and the wealthiest polluters pay for the damage they’ve caused. 350 in partnership with Eurodad and Global Witness.
H.R. 6213, the misnamed Heat Workforce Standards Act, would prohibit the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from creating or enforcing any national heat safety law. Call your member of Congress and ask them to protect workers from heat—and not block heat safety protections!
Tell Our Governor and State Leaders to Prepare For El Niño Dangerhere.
ARTICLES
Inside the Secretive Deal for a $10 Billion Data Center in Rural North Carolina by Lisa Sorg here.
Amid Growing Fears of Rogue AI, Expert Urges Governments to “Bring This to a Grinding Halt”
Interview on Democracy Now! with David Krueger here.
You Can’t Drink Data: Native Communities Are Resisting the AI Death Cyclehere.
In this excellent episode of Movement Memos, Kelly Hayes talks with Native organizers Joseph White Eyes and Krystal Two Bulls from Honor the Earth about the struggle against data centers in Native communities. The conversation explores how the AI boom is advancing a new era of colonial extraction, and how Native communities are resisting land grabs and exploitative technologies.
Contiguous US breaks its record for hottest month ever, NOAA says by Seth Borenstein here.
We launched a war on nature. Now we are in a climate war zone by Rebecca Solnit here.
“Once, across much of the the world’s temperate zones, we looked forward to summer as a time of delights, from summer’s bounty of fruits, long days, warmth, school holidays, activities like camping and swimming, travel and adventure. Now many of us dread it.”
State of the Climate: A Dimming, Overheated Planet, With Degraded Oceans by Bob Berwyn here.
What Happens When the World is on Fire by John Vaillant here.
Report Shows How Trump’s Fossil Fuel Agenda Is ‘Making Everyone’s Lives More Expensive’ by Stephen Prager here.
Fun with numbers: A datacenter is an oil well, and other insights by Bill McKibben here.
Post–Hurricane Helene, this community is getting creative with solar by Elizabeth Ouzts here.
Canada’s wildfire season is taking a heavy toll on First Nations by Aaron Hemens here.
Thanks for reading and for taking action! Peace and love for our beautiful Earth, Karen
