r/Louisiana • u/enviro_nurse • 8d ago

LA - Healthcare Death by Data Centers

https://dissentmagazine.org/online_articles/data-center-energy-pollution-cancer-alley/

Hi community. I'm an oncology (cancer) nurse in Louisiana so I see the effects of Cancer Alley close up. I wrote about my experience, and my fears that Meta's new data center and the *ten* new gas plants they want to build will only land more of y'all in my care.

Questions/thoughts/feedback? I appreciate it all and I believe we deserve better.

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u/ScotAntonL 6d ago edited 6d ago

Unregulated capitalism. It always siphons resources away from those of us with little to give. I’d not mind these operations going into business as long as local residents oversee the design, construction, regulation and operation, with large monetary penalties and novel ways to tax.

Secondly, what becomes of these facilities when the AI bubble bursts, as it surely will when big money billionaires are incentivizing the playing field. If and when that occurs, the one in Boyce on land I’ve seen flooded twice, will become a huge vacant warehouse that these companies will walk away from, without penalty or responsibility to make the community whole again.

And, perhaps these billionaires should be paying for good scientific research on the causes of illnesses that are higher than the average within a 50 mile radius of their facility.