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In this episode of For Humanity, John Sherman and co-host Connor Axiotis sit down with Elena Schlossberg, founder of the Coalition to Protect Prince William County, who spent 12 years fighting data center sprawl in Northern Virginia – and winning. Elena explains how the industry found a loophole in public utility law that forces communities to subsidize private infrastructure, why this is now a national political issue, and how ordinary residents are pushing back.
β±οΈ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Intro and guest welcome
0:33 – Elena's background and the Coalition to Protect PWC
2:20 – How Amazon's 2014 data center triggered a 4-year legal fight
3:40 – The national data center movement and Polymarket's 85% ban prediction
4:34 – Why Virginia already has more data centers than China
7:57 – Was this a problem before AI? Campfire vs. wildfire
10:30 – Data centers as an election issue – senators' seats at risk
12:26 – Transmission lines crossing three states – and the communities fighting back
13:02 – Data centers don't create jobs – they eliminate them
15:03 – Amazon buys a 38-acre garden center – and a community disappears
17:47 – AI replacing jobs in real time – the Verizon call center story
20:06 – Chatbots, teens, and the mental health crisis
22:09 – John walks Elena through AI extinction risk – her honest reaction
27:08 – What a counselor thinks about "AI intelligence" and self-awareness
30:20 – Elena's practical solution: stop supplying the power
31:14 – Air quality, gas turbines, and immediate health impacts
33:50 – Could data center activists and AI safety advocates unite?
35:24 – Getting into tech industry spaces and opening eyes
38:30 – Are data centers already obsolete before they're built?
40:15 – The financial case for a moratorium
43:21 – Where does Elena see 2026 going?
46:09 – What would safety testing for AI even look like?
49:11 – Closing thoughts and a hopeful message
Elena argues that the question of who pays for AI infrastructure is the same question as who controls AI development – and that the grassroots movement she built in Virginia is a template for what a national slowdown could look like.
π They explore:
How the data center industry exploits public utility law to socialize costs
Why Data Center Alley in Virginia has become a flashpoint for national politics
How transmission line fights in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia are converging
The real job math: one Target creates 10 times more long-term jobs than a data center
The connection between AI infrastructure, mental health, and community destruction
Elena's reaction to AI extinction risk – and why she sees overlapping goals
Why stopping the power supply may be the most practical brake on runaway AI development
What a bipartisan moratorium on data centers could look like
π About For Humanity Hosted by John Sherman, For Humanity is a podcast from The AI Risk Network making AI risk a kitchen-table conversation on every street.
π More from our hosts: Connor Axiotis – Making God documentary (coming soon)
πΊ Subscribe for weekly conversations on AI risk: https://www.youtube.com/@theairisknetwork
π¨ Join the conversation:
Should communities have veto power over local data centers?
Do you think data center activists and AI safety advocates should work together?
Is a national moratorium on data centers realistic in 2026?
#AISafety #DataCenters #AIRisk #ForHumanityPodcast #EnergyPolicy #AIRegulation #CommunityActivism
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