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Sean Ryan
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Sean Ryan
Aaron Brockovich, welcome to the show.
Erin Brockovich
Thank you. Sean Orion, welcome to be here.
Sean Ryan
Pretty cool, right on. But so AI data centers going to have a right. Whole episode on it today. Just. I saw some of the stuff that you were uncovering. I don't know a whole lot about AI data center, the bad side of all this. Yeah. Because I've been talking about all the good side of all. But so we're going to dive into all that today. It's going to be super eye opening. But. But I want to start with just saying I really appreciate what you're doing. So I had no idea about the water coming from this.
Erin Brockovich
Yeah.
Sean Ryan
Honest with you.
Erin Brockovich
So you and me both, you know, I found out about data centers is kind of like, you know, I feel like I'm in such like a time warp in my life right now. And you'll. You'll find out I'm kind of that person that's. I don't know, I'm super connected. And I feel energies. We are energy. This planet is energy. And I worry that we've gotten so, you know, into our phones that we've become disconnected from our natural environment and we're missing a lot. And I feel again like I did, it just came out of the blue, that young girl, 31 years old, starting in Hinckley, California, who really didn't know what she was getting into, but I could feel it and I was compelled to want to do something. And that happened with the data centers.
Sean Ryan
Yeah.
Erin Brockovich
And I got 30 emails from individuals from the same town with concerns about the data centers. So anytime, you know, 10, 20, 30, 40 people at once come to me about an issue from the same town that's generally a clue something's going on. And I'm like, these data centers. What's going on? Let me take a look at. So I started looking at data centers and its water consumption. And I'm a dyslexic, so I do a lot of things backwards in that regard. For me and my work, I always have to go back to source. You know, they say dyslexics read backward. I can read fine, but I calculate and I have to go back to source. Where did it start? What's happening? And I wanted to create a map so I could see the big picture. I'm very visual. I think a lot of us are. And I say this with respect because I too have lived in my own bubble. And we get busy in our own lives and we Stop looking beyond that. And so when you see a town that's being poisoned, you might think it's just one town and it could never be us. But when I can create the big picture, it changes the story. So with the data centers, what I thought was one town within 72 hours I looked at, at all the submissions. So I created a self reporting registry database where they could submit what was happening in their own backyard. I don't know why we wouldn't pay attention to the very people living, breathing and experiencing these issues as to what the hell is happening in their backyard. And it blew up to the whole country.
Sean Ryan
How long ago did you start this?
Erin Brockovich
10 weeks ago.
Sean Ryan
Just 10 weeks ago?
Erin Brockovich
10 weeks ago.
Sean Ryan
And you, I mean I, I want to give you an introduction before we go too far.
Erin Brockovich
Sorry, I just jumped right.
Sponsor Voice
I think.
Sean Ryan
Did I read like you had like 7,000 something submissions?
Erin Brockovich
Thousand submissions. I updated the map last night and we've now pinned 8,000 submissions. So we read each submission and we vet its location. And some people won't have their zip codes in there, we can't find it. Or it's a solar farm with a data center coming, but it's not there yet. So we read each one. So we're a little behind because we're reading it and we're a small group and vetting them. But we're now over 8,000, if not possibly 9,000 pinned on the map. And you just like, you can't even see most of America. There's just so many data centers going in everywhere.
Sean Ryan
We'll put it up on screen right
Erin Brockovich
now, but so I was very, very surprised very quickly. And again, I feel like when I stepped out into Hinckley, California, I could feel it and I could see it. I mean, you know, anytime you see two headed frogs in green water, yeah, that's kind of a fucked up situation. And I'm not one to back away from anyone trying to tell me what I see I don't see. And that happens a lot. And on the data centers, I don't think we saw the big picture because we're busy in our own bubble again. I've gotten that way too. And so you may think it's one isolated place when it's everywhere. And what I'm learning with the data centers is what began with one town became a whole country. And I now have 11 other countries reporting.
Sean Ryan
So it's the 11 other countries. What are those? What countries?
Erin Brockovich
India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Portugal, Croatia, the uk, Scotland, Ireland. And I have to think about what the other two are it's the whole globe, it's the whole planet.
Sean Ryan
And, you know, I mean, you've always been an environmentalist, correct? Come in.
Erin Brockovich
Yeah, I mean, I think I got labeled that.
Sean Ryan
Yeah. Let me, let me give you an introduction here real quick. Aaron Brockovich. He became a household name after helping expose one of the largest groundwater contamination cases in U.S. history involving Pacific Gas and Electric. That investigation led to a historic 333 million dollar settlement and inspired the Academy Award winning film, Aaron Brockvich, where Julia Roberts portrayed you. For more than 30 years, you've investigated environmental contamination, corporate misconduct, and public health issues, helping communities take on some of the most powerful companies in America today. You're focused on the rapid expansion of AI data centers, sounding the alarm about their impact on water resources, energy infrastructure, and local communities. You've also launched a nationwide initiative to help track data center development. You're the author of several books, including Superman's Not Coming, which examines America's water crisis and the need to protect one of the most vital resources. Man, it's just like everywhere you turn in this country and probably in the world, there's some crisis going on. I just watched this movie, this documentary on Netflix. On Netflix. It's called the. It's about plastics. Microplastics. Yeah, the plastic detox. Have you seen that?
Erin Brockovich
Oh, yeah,
Sean Ryan
in the fertility crisis.
Erin Brockovich
Are you talking about pfas, perfluorooctanoic acids. Yes, and the microplastics. Yeah, we work on that across the country. And, you know, there's definitely concern with the data centers and their water consumption and they're using PFAS in the coolant, and then that has to be disposed of. And I'm starting to just now get a lot of information in from whistleblowers. Some things that I'm not sure I'm liking. What I'm reading. People who are managing these facilities that are now seeing runoff and toxic runoff and the chemicals involved. There's no regulations, there's no oversight of any way, shape or form. This is a free for all out there. And so I'm starting to get those. All that information coming in, I'm starting to create the stats, but it's a plethora of chemicals. I mean, we've just become this industrialized country and all these chemicals and our
Sean Ryan
bodies are full of them.
Erin Brockovich
Absolutely.
Sean Ryan
I had this guy, Zach Lanon, he's running for governor in Iowa. And you know, he was a big. I think he was big Baja movement supporter. Yeah, I don't know how he Couldn't be. I was too, until I wound up. You know, it seems like it's complete at this point with the glyphosate. Do you know about the glyphosate stuff?
Erin Brockovich
I've actually written some things for legislation out in. In the good old Kansas, which I meant to say to you because I was born and raised in Lawrence, Kansas. You're from Missouri.
Sean Ryan
That's right.
Erin Brockovich
I would be the girl that was pulling all the tigers tails out of the trunk. I'm telling you, we would just get into that because I'm such a jayhawker. But on game night, if you were missing a tail from your trunk, I
Sean Ryan
took it right on.
Erin Brockovich
Just wanted to let you know that.
Sean Ryan
But, yeah, he came on and we were talking about the Glide issue. And, you know, I mean, this. This administration ran on, you know, ran on Maha, let's make America healthy again. Right. Then they give immunity to the. To the foreign glyphosate companies and call it a national security concern. We also label the fentanyl crisis a national security concern. 100,000 people died from fentanyl. 618,000 died from cancer. Cancer isn't even an organic dis. It sounds. That's what I'm hearing. It's all this that we have put into the environment that's given everyone and everything cancer, and then they give them immunity. The highest concentration of glyphosate in the country is Iowa. The highest concentration of cancer in the country is Iowa. How the is that not a national security concern?
Erin Brockovich
Right. I think I asked myself that question, and I think everybody in the communities ask themselves the same question.
Sean Ryan
So, I mean, shit. The cancer drugs are probably also in the lobbying trying to get the glyphosate companies immunity so they can treat cancer patients. Like, it's just. Everything is for sale in this place. Place. It's fucking disgusting.
Erin Brockovich
It is. And, you know, I think I'm observing especially with the data center movement, because the people are waking up. Something's changing out there.
Sean Ryan
Yeah.
Erin Brockovich
And you can feel it. There's a shift happening. And I don't know, you know, kind of going back to whether we all get involved in our own lives, and then when we see the bigger picture, something happens. We realize that we're not alone. I mean, in my entire 30 years of working, I've never seen a situation that has been bipartisan where everybody's being affected. And I said this morning. I think it was last night or this morning, and it's almost. I just. I'm watching this happen with the data centers. I'm working with these people, and I just am getting this huge emotion of pride. And I am so proud of them. And I am watching when we are united together, I'm watching them. It's amazing what we can get done. And that is happening here that I, in my whole career, haven't seen, where we're waking up and we're united on the same issue. And that's the very valuable resources that none of us can sustain life without. And these data centers is jeopardizing all of it at once. Our land, our farms, our food, our water supply. Everything is on the table. And I started the map so I could see the bigger picture. And as I'm watching people recognize this and people being united and people working and people showing up, like I wrote, superman's not coming. And that never scared me because I knew eventually we would show up, and they are.
Sean Ryan
That's good to hear. That's great to hear. It's great to hear people are united on something, too. Yep. I think that's happening more and more every day.
Erin Brockovich
Every day.
Sean Ryan
Because every day, everywhere you look, there's a fire to put out. There is a bonfire, a huge bonfire.
Erin Brockovich
And I think, you know, we lost ourself. I'm probably. Oh, I'm gonna go here and I'm gonna get a fucking phone call that goes, oh, I can't believe. Why did you go there, Aaron? But it's just happening. And, you know, I want to share with people, you know, sitting here in this room with you and your photographs and stuff, It's energy. I'm very connected to it. There's a vibe in here. There's an openness in here. Just real transparency. There's just something miraculous that I truly feel in this room. And I'm so compelled as I've watched what's gone on across this country with all of these environmental issues. And it's gonna bring me to a. And I hope you'll give me the time to share it. And it's called the wizard of Oz.
Sean Ryan
Let's hear it.
Erin Brockovich
Okay, so I'm born and raised in Lawrence, Kansas. I loved the wizard of Oz, the movie. I always wanted to be Dorothy. And I was always afraid of the flying monkeys. But I was fascinated with the film. But I became more fascinated with the book, the original book written by L. Frank Baum, the Wizard of Oz, and that series of books that led to the film. Have you ever read the book?
Sean Ryan
I haven't.
Erin Brockovich
Well, I hope you go do a big Google dive later. Today because there is an entire political allegory to the book the wizard of Oz.
Sean Ryan
Is this the Wicked series?
Erin Brockovich
No, it's the original book, the wizard of Oz and it's been studied by many a great scholar on the pulpit. Political allegory. And I got hooked on this about 10 years ago and I'm like, we are running a parallel and this is the allegory and here is the story. So L. Frank Baum wrote the book the wizard of Oz at the pre height of the Industrial Revolution, Pre height of the Industrial revolution as a way to teach his children the power of individualism and thinking for oneself in a world that would increasingly begin to speak for you. That right there stopped me. I'm like teaching your children the power of individualism and thinking for oneself in a world that would increasingly begin to think and speak for you. That's fascinating to me. So but here is the whole political allegory that's been very well studied. So Dorothy is all of us girls in America that have a dream. You know, I always wanted to run away and move to California, right? So you know, I left home to go do that. So wizard of Oz begins at Dorothy in Kansas, runs away from home. And while she's run away, she runs into the kind of, you know, snake oil salesy kind of guy when a twister emerges. And the twister in the political allegory is a representation of disruption in Washington D.C. and so she runs back home. We know that she gets hit in the head and the house gets lifted up and she lands in Oz. I can't tell you how many times I have felt in my life, I'm like, Toto, we are not in Kansas anymore. It just goes through my head all the time. It's one of the first things that went through my head when I walked out in Hinckley, California. But. And so the house lands on the munchkins who are representation of the mass citizens who are frustrated and thought Dorothy was there to save them. And so she wanted to get back home and they told her to follow the yellow brick road. Well, the yellow brick road is a representation of the gold standard. Follow the path of the money to the sitting wizard who can get you home. Follow the standard of the gold, of the money. Follow the path. And so it goes on in this political allegory about the first person she meets is the Tin Man. And the Tin man is a representation of industrial workers who will lose their heart. And the Cowardly lion is a representation of L. Frank Baum's best friend. It's William Bryan's Jennings, it's William Brian's Jenning, who was always running for populist president, known for his fiery rhetoric, but had no courage. And then the scarecrow, who is a representation of the American farmer who at that time all the banks were buying his land, therefore they thought the farmer had no brain. So this is the cast of the American people. The girl next door, industrial worker, the politician and the farmer. So off they go on the yellow brick road. So we know the story there where the wicked witch comes along and puts them all to sleep. And the wicked witch in the political allegory is a representation of industry that doesn't want you to find out. So they get put to sleep in the poppy fields. Poppy fields. So we know the good witch comes along and wakes them up. And it's on this journey where they get put to sleep that I have paused and gone, huh? I'm wondering if that happened to us, did we get comfortable? Did we get complacent? Did we buy an illusion? Did we listen to the bullshit? Now as they woke up and I see what we were talking about a minute ago. Are we waking up? There's a shift, it's happening. There's something really going on out there. But as you know, they get to the wizard and they pull back the curtain and what did they find?
Sean Ryan
Mass surveillance.
Erin Brockovich
Mass surveillance. Somebody back there pulling a lot of switches and levers and not really certain what the outcome would be either. But here's the thing for me that just I think about all the time, The lesson that they learned in the end. We all watched it. See, you had a heart, you had a brain, and you had a courage. You had it all along to find your way back. And I'm watching that happening. I get firsthand view on the ground watching this come to life, that we in this world of all this technology that's taking over for us, I think have had a glitch and gone. Wait a minute, wait a minute. I know how to think. I know how to feel. And I've lost. And what's in that gut is that courage. It will be up to us, all of us, to make the necessary changes as we move forward into a world that I hope that we can leave and a legacy. Behind that is every element that we need to sustain life. Our land, our farmers, our food, our health, our water, our air. Because without it, it's game over.
Sean Ryan
Yeah.
Erin Brockovich
And I just feel this absolute. It's bizarre for me sitting here with you calling. Something's changing here And I don't know if it is the pressure of these data centers that are being built to feed this AI engine. And I've always said, you know, use AI for the good tool that it is. It isn't be all, end all, know all everything. And I don't take, I don't listen to half the shit that AI says to me. You should see my thread. If I jump on AI because I like to find out and run little queries what it's thinking and I'm just like, that's inaccurate information. That's bullshit.
Sponsor Voice
Fuck off.
Erin Brockovich
I mean it's a tool, you have to use it appropriately. But these data centers that are feeding it are going to zap all these necessary resources that I think is really squeezing the people. They're concerned about their water. They know what's gonna happen if they lose their water. They're concern the destruction of all the forest and the woods and the creeks and the rivers and the wildlife. See, every one of that counts to the whole and it's just being destroyed and it's become a push for them that I, I wonder if they're questioning humanity at this point and, and if they're going to lose everything. I think they're going to stand up and fight for everything.
Sean Ryan
I think a lot of people are questioning humanity at this point.
Erin Brockovich
Yep.
Sean Ryan
In a multitude of facets.
Erin Brockovich
And I, I think you're going to watch them rise up. I really do.
Sean Ryan
I hope so.
Erin Brockovich
The stakes are too high.
Sean Ryan
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Erin Brockovich
Yeah.
Sean Ryan
You know, I mean, it's one of the same. Just different perspective. It's just. I don't. I don't. People don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.
Erin Brockovich
I mean, I'm watching him. It starts at a local level. It's kind of sad to see that there appears to be a lot of local councils who, you know, are being bought off.
Sean Ryan
Well, that's what I was thinking. We're going to get into this. My wife grew up in Boca raton, Florida and used to be, according to her, I never saw it, but used to be a nice little beach town. Not anymore, man. I moved there. I was there for about two, three years. And she would tell me she would go to the. To the city councils, you know, and when they do the votes and try to save like the little bitty, you know, no bigger than the size of this room, little green space that's left, boom, gone, you know, and there would be hundreds, maybe, I don't know, lots of people in these meetings, the citizens that are raising concerns and da, da, da, da, da. And she would say, you know, it would just. Everybody in that room will be on the same page. No, we want to keep, you know, the old post office or we want to keep this little, you know, eighth of an acre park. Like, please don't build another high rise here.
Erin Brockovich
Right.
Sean Ryan
And all these citizens would voice their concerns and then they do the vote. And all in favor of the new building say aye. Aye. Like right in Front of them.
Erin Brockovich
Right.
Sean Ryan
You know, and it's just, it's just builders out there just paying off these, paying off the, the city council, taking them on vacation. Hey, let's go, let's go to Aspen. Let's have a little meeting in Aspen. Here you go. You know, and it's just, it's the greed, man. The greed.
Erin Brockovich
Yeah. And it, and that is what's, what's taken over.
Sean Ryan
And this shit's everywhere down at the local level, all the way up to the White House.
Erin Brockovich
Yeah. And I used to always say, you know, it does, it begins local. And especially for something with the data centers, begins local because that's where you get your zoning and your permits and everybody's reporting to me, as you were sharing about with your wife, that they are showing up in huge numbers. But these were done in non disclosure agreements. Even Microsoft has come out and said, we're going to remove all the non disclosures. If there's no big secret, then why do you need a non disclosure? And that was what was bothering every community in every state that has resubmitted at. Every state has submitted to the map. The number one thing that bothered them, they said it was like a stealth coming in in the fricking middle of the night. Nobody heard or knew anything. And just suddenly it was passed. And their voice didn't matter showing up, didn't matter that they were just passed. And by gosh, they've been showing up consistently. And I am actually screenshotting this morning. I should have brought my phone in with me. The people are starting to make a difference. There's been enough opposition. Again, if we talk about one town that has that opposition and shows up and wins, when you have all towns and all people showing up, they're starting to make that change at local levels, state levels. We've been watching what even happened in Utah just from the opposition. How a governor had to change its position and reduce the size of what this data center was going to be because the people weren't going to have it. We're seeing more and more and more of that happening across the country. And you now have up to 14 states that are considering total bans, moratoriums. They're putting on pauses. Hold your horses. We need more information. And it's starting to happen.
Sean Ryan
That's good.
Erin Brockovich
What are those 14 states? I have it all on my phone. So you've got Maine. I'll have to go grab my phone. Cause it's got the list of what the 14 states are. And you can find that Information, Right,
Sean Ryan
we'll put it up on screen.
Erin Brockovich
Yeah, but you're starting to see more and more of that. And at a local level they're saying, hey, six month pause, they're stopping, we need to think about it. But in the beginning it was just this non disclosure and it just kind of blew up very quickly. And everyone, that's what made everyone mad. And I've shared this so many times, I learned that in Hinckley, California, communities will handle the truth. They will ask questions, they will sit at the table and they will work with you. But they can never ever handle the lie. They can't handle the deception. And that was the first thing in the data centers that set them off across the board, man. You slid it under the table, you did it in the dark of the night. We didn't even have a chance, we didn't even have a voice. And then once they found that out and then they started showing up. So I've been watching its progress from proposal through construction to up and running. They've got a good shot at these proposal stages. And actually the appellate court just upheld something on the biggest data center that I guess they're now not gonna go through or their developers pulled out. So due to the opposition.
Sean Ryan
Right on.
Erin Brockovich
So you're watching in real time our voices and when we show up, and that's why I got so excited, you're talking the whole country, the whole country is going to show up, they're going to make some change and we're starting to see that happening. In regards to the data centers, what
Sean Ryan
are the non disclosures for?
Erin Brockovich
None of us seem to know.
Sean Ryan
Who's signing the non disclosures?
Erin Brockovich
The city council and the companies.
Sean Ryan
The city council you're asking for, how do you even force, is that even legal?
Erin Brockovich
Probably not, but it's been done everywhere. And some of your biggest companies, it's Meta, it's Google, it's Amazon that are building these massive, massive data centers.
Sean Ryan
So why are these? I don't know. Why are these? I know it's polluting the water somehow. What are the environmental impacts of these data centers?
Erin Brockovich
So it's its water consumption. So some data centers can use up to 30 million gallons of water. So they're utilizing all the water from the aquifers to municipal waters. So people with their own wells are reporting that their wells are running dry. They're having to dig deeper because of these mass amounts of water that these data centers require to stay cool. They have to be cool. And so we're losing our water resources. And it's interesting. I almost brought this.
Sean Ryan
We're losing. Where are they putting these? I mean, so they're, I mean, I saw the map, I was like, oh, wonder, I wonder where I'm going to move to in 10 years.
Erin Brockovich
Because yeah, there's very, very few.
Sean Ryan
And it doesn't look like there's nowhere to move to. Well, so the whole country's covered.
Erin Brockovich
Correct. And the whole country's almost in a drought restriction.
Sean Ryan
Well, I mean, and so you're going
Erin Brockovich
to consume more of our water resources to keep these data centers cool when there's other options. Other are looking at other options than just building them in our backyards. And they're literally in people's backyards. They're massive. These things are the size of 20 Super Walmarts or more. And you're having to destroy all the trees. They need to be near water. They're looking to be on top of aquifers. They need cooler climates. But you're not, you're putting them in hot climates, you're putting them in drought restricted states, which is most of the country at this point, expecting a good outcome. And we're just not going to have it though. That's our, our water sources and AI has to have water to keep it cool.
Sean Ryan
I mean, I just, I don't understand how that, I mean, are they putting them in Florida? In Florida? I mean, I don't know about starting to know about out west, but Florida. I mean, you can't, you can't run your sprinkler. I mean, you can't even water your grass.
Erin Brockovich
Yeah.
Sean Ryan
You know, they're literally worried. So many people are moving to Florida, they don't even know how the hell they're going to flush the toilet soon.
Erin Brockovich
We're talking millions and millions and millions and trillions of gallons of water.
Sean Ryan
What size of City uses $30 billion or 30 million gallons of water?
Erin Brockovich
That's because these data centers are so massive.
Sean Ryan
It's like I'm asking what would the equivalent be? I think I read in the notes it was 50,000. A population, a city with a population of 50,000 people uses that much.
Erin Brockovich
I saw that. Yeah. I mean, you're talking that these data centers are going to use more water than the world would consume. It's ridiculous.
Sean Ryan
Can you reuse the water?
Erin Brockovich
So you can. So they're wanting to go to more closed cooling systems. And in those closed cooling systems you still are going to be using chemicals. And here's the thing that I think there's a window here where everybody can rush in before any regulations start. And we're starting to see now at a federal level they're looking at regulations, they want to pass regulations but right now it's a free for all out there. And so these chemicals, there's no regulations about every two years when you have to clean out a cooling closed system, where are you going to throw all of those chemicals? This is where. For systems that are already up and running, I'm getting whistleblowers on the inside saying that they're taking all that waste and they're just running it down into the sewers. There's no oversight. And they're now starting to get test where this is very contaminated water. So it's going to be a little real shit show here.
Sean Ryan
Like the city water is contaminated.
Erin Brockovich
So in a lot of city water is contaminated and they're using the city water to cool it again, it's just going to regurgitate all that PFAS or what other contaminants are in that water back into the environment. You know it reminds me of like my dad's a mechanical engineer so he built and ran pipelines for Texaco all through parts of Texas, Oklahoma, up into Kansas. And he used to always tell me, remember this Aaron, the solution to pollution is not dilution. And I often wonder if that's what they think. You know, taking polluted water and running it through a system and diluting it or dumping it into a river and it flows downstream, that will have a natural dilution would resolve the issue. And it's not. And so even if with the closed cooling system, that water that's recycling in there, eventually they have to clean those systems, they have to release that water. And are there any regulations to look at what chemicals are or aren't in that water before we release it into the environment and down into the drains and just create another pollution issue. We're just, we're doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. I have watched this since I began my work in Hinckley, California. I was 31 years old and I am 66 and a grandmother of five today. And we are doing the exact same thing over and over again, just expecting a different result.
Sean Ryan
Are people noticing the. I mean their water is polluted? I saw something that it's turning brown.
Erin Brockovich
So they are. So they're definitely. And there's a lot of reasons why that could be happening even during the construction phase because I mean you were vibrating the earth. So a people with wells are noticing a shift in their water levels or they can't use their well water at all anymore because the water table is lower. So they're gonna have to dig a deeper well. But it does come out. It's very turbid water and it's brackish, it's dirt. It's a disruption to the water system. And so you're going to get this discolored water. Their water pressure is very low. Some people are reporting it's just a trickle. They get a bucket just so they can get a bucket of water. Many people are starting to report water disruptions where they're getting no water at all. People are definitely starting to report these way higher utility bills because all the cost of the water and electricity that all these facilities need, we're going to pay for. We're paying for it. I have people saying their utility bills have gone from water bill from $40 a month to $800 a month. They've seen their electric bill go from $160 to $440 a month. I got a notice from somebody in El Paso, Texas, that they got a notice from the municipality to expect a 75% increase in their utility bills.
Sean Ryan
75%. So they're passing the onto us all
Erin Brockovich
the cost of the excess water. These AIs need energy. They're massive energy sucks and water. And so all of that. And by the way, you're building on an infrastructure and a grid system that needs a lot of help. I mean, we're relying on a grid system we built, what, 250 years ago?
Sean Ryan
Yeah.
Erin Brockovich
And so this. We're setting ourselves up for a road to nowhere. And people know it. And they're starting to show up. And we are seeing some bans, some moratoriums, some pauses. I know that there is some introduction of federal oversight starting to happen. We need more answers about how these are going to work. How much of our resources you're going to take. What expense do you expect to put on all of us as a taxpayer? Is it just going to run us into the ground? It can't be done this way. It just can't. And so now that the conversation's here, you are starting to see some more action.
Sean Ryan
Is this doing anything to the air?
Erin Brockovich
Yes. And so especially a lot of these big facilities. And again, you're talking huge diesel, all of these equipments and generators needed to run these facilities during the construction. And the noise, I can't share with you. Every single person unbeknownst to them is reporting for the ones that are up and running. The constant 24. 7 humming and buzzing is literally driving them insane. There are starting to be reports of mental health issues with people because it's just, and it's loud. I mean they're saying we're going insane. 24, 7 the noise, the humming, the grind, it doesn't stop. And it is affecting wildlife. People are reporting. To me there's a farmer in Texas that's reporting since the data center was up and operational he hasn't had a live birth in two years. A live birth in two years. Are these high frequency sounds affecting animals in the womb as they're being developed? Don't know. But those reports are starting to come out. People are reporting migratory pathways have changed. The animals are gone. The birds are gone. Nature itself seems to be disappearing as they clear all this land. And the water's changing and the water's discolored and the water pressure is low and their electricity bills are going up. Their water bills are going up. People who have been living around these newer data centers that have been up and running for two, three years are starting to report seizure like symptoms. Oh man. Chronic fatigue. So it's out there and they're all starting to report it. And so we're starting to categorize that. Running stats on it, putting new information out every week. But for me it's always about listening to the people. Why would I not? This is in their backyard. They're living it, breathing it, experiencing it, showing up. And it's glaring in our face. You know, what's that saying? A thousand flies, Something. Don't lie. I mean when there's thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands and tens of thousands of people experiencing the exact same thing from the exact same data center and the construction and the long term consequences. Why are we not listening to them?
Sean Ryan
Because they don't want to.
Erin Brockovich
We need to.
Sean Ryan
They're getting paid off just like we talked about.
Erin Brockovich
And I, I do think the people's pressure is starting to work.
Sean Ryan
That's good. Electricity data centers use roughly 450 to 490 TWh globally. In 2025, about 5% of all US elect electricity projected to roughly double by 2030 and potentially reach 12% of US consumption by 2028. I mean the grid, we don't have
Erin Brockovich
the infrastructure for this. We just don't.
Sean Ryan
An average data center uses about 300,000 gallons a day. A 100 MW AI facility runs about 530,000 gallons a day. Including the water behind its Electric, about 190,000 on site. The biggest hit 5 million gallons a day, as much as a town of 50,000 people.
Erin Brockovich
And some of the facilities use more than the 5 million gallons a day. They had a situation in Georgia where 30 million gallons of water just apparently disappeared. Not sure what happened there.
Sean Ryan
Most of AI's water footprint comes from everyday use.
Erin Brockovich
And you know, so many people have shared that would be way more, you know, in the know than I, that this type of data center will be obsolete in five years. And then we'll just abandon them and have, you know, what thousands of little Minia Chernobyls spread across the United States abandoned. I think everybody's starting to really question this. I think one thing that I don't like is these companies are so wealthy, it's ridiculous. And they're buying the land, are they buying the water rights?
Sean Ryan
I mean, I just, you're, that's, that's what, that's what gets me is how do you, these companies, like you said, are so. Well, I mean a lot of these, a lot of these companies have more money than most countries do. I know, you know, and I mean, according to Polymarket, Nvidia is expected to be the largest company in the world by 2027, largely because of its chips power the data centers driving the AI boom. Wall street has trillions riding on that build out, continuing. So be honest with me. What chance does a county commission in Utah or a zoo in Nashville? There's a big one. Good. I know there's a big one in Nashville being proposed right now. Everybody's pissed off about it.
Erin Brockovich
They've got, I think they've got.
Sean Ryan
What do they, I mean, how does a local municipality, how does a local, the local population combat the most powerful corporation in the world? Well, the city council, I mean, SpaceX 1.5 trillion. And Nvidia is going to be bigger than that by next year. What local politician is going to be able to stand up against that or resist that kind of a bribe?
Erin Brockovich
They aren't, but the people can. And that's what's starting to happen. I should go grab like, I brought some notes in my phone and stuff. You are starting to see local opposition and even the big situation up in Utah. I believe Kevin o' Leary was out there and they got enough pushback that the governor came in and said, you know, this can't be 100% of anything. We're going to knock this project down by, you know, 80%.
Sean Ryan
Oh really? I didn't realize that.
Erin Brockovich
Because of the people's opposition and you're seeing more governors and more city councils. Like I believe it was in Festus, Missouri. Hey, you vote them in, vote them out. So in Festus, Missouri, they voted him out in the midterms here. I guess the Republican that was speaker of the House up there in Utah, he lost. So because of the opposition. And it's just as I said in the beginning, and I've never really seen anything like this in my 30 years of doing this type of environmental work. Such a rise of the people on this issue and they are starting to turn that tide. And I believe that these local council members, because they're just voting them out, just be careful how you're voting over there because they're going to vote you out. They can't say no to the money coming in. And I don't think they expected the opposition from the people showing up. And then that's where they're going to lose their seats and they're not getting voted back in.
Sean Ryan
Well, what happens becomes a game changer. This is what, this is what happens is, you know, these, these people are sneaky. They fund, they fund both sides. You know what I mean? They dump, they dump a couple million in the Republican side, they dump a couple million into the Democrat side. You know, they, they, they dump a couple million into the primaries. You know, and they're like, all right, we'll sprinkle this all out through all of these people. That way they're all controlled. And then whoever wins the primary, they dump another pile of money into that side and they dump another pile of money into this side. And you got a Republican versus Democrat that's. That are both being paid off by the same corporation.
Erin Brockovich
Yep.
Sean Ryan
You know, and so that's, that's, that's, that's. How do you combat that?
Erin Brockovich
Well, we're starting to see that again. I should pull it. It was up on my phone an appellate court decision. But what's happening is the companies are pulling out because of the opposition.
Sean Ryan
Interesting.
Erin Brockovich
They're pulling. Some of the companies are pulling out. So there's. And it again, we've got quite a few. I believe it's 120 municipalities now that have on some form of pause. Moratorium in California was Monterey park put a total ban, a total ban on data centers. So I believe about 107 municipalities thereabout. We could probably run those numbers pretty quick. Are now pause moratorium, partial ban or a full stop. And so it's becoming concerning enough I think for everybody at some level.
Sean Ryan
I know the people here we should be.
Erin Brockovich
You're talking a depletion of all of our natural resources. Okay, let's go there. So you've got no farmland, you got no water, you're in full on drought, you're going to have no food famine. This is a road that leads us where? To nowhere. I think everybody sees that. And that's why I think that they're really starting to rise up in the best of ways. They are learning their information, they are gathering their communities, they are showing up, they're asking questions. They're getting very involved in a strategic, organized manner in huge numbers. And they're relentless. They're not showing up and going away. They are showing up. They're showing up at courthouse steps at a state level and they are making changes. And whether that pressure is on city council or they're voting city council out, or that pressure is on the state or a governor, or even in a situation where you just had the biggest, biggest one yet, the developer pulled out due to the opposition of people because that'll backfire on him.
Sean Ryan
Let's, let's take a quick break if you don't mind.
Erin Brockovich
Grab my.
Sean Ryan
Yeah, perfect. That would be great.
Erin Brockovich
Okay, cool.
Sean Ryan
Case you haven't noticed, I take preparedness seriously. And water is one of the first things I look at. Not just emergency water, but the water my family is drinking every single day. A federal study found forever chemicals in nearly half the tap water in America. Because of that, I've tried a lot of filtration systems over the years. Most of them didn't make the cut. Either they were too complicated, they took up too much space, or I still didn't feel confident about what they were actually removing. That's when I found rora. Rora's countertop system is third party tested to reduce the contaminants people should actually be worried about, including PFAS, lead microplastics, and disinfection byproducts. Their Infinity Filter achieves 99.6% total PFAS reduction over the filter's full lifespan. And they publish the results. So you can actually verify it before you buy. What I like is that it's simple. No plumbing, no installation, and it's built with medical grade stainless steel instead of a chunk of plastic sitting on your counter. Because when it comes to water, I'm not interested in just hoping it's clean. I want to know it's clean. And if you want worry free drinking water for the people living under your roof, go to rora.comsrs for an exclusive discount. That's R-O-R-Ra.comsrs and tap into clean water today. Foreign I'm going to read some stuff off while you're digging there. Holy Ridge, Louisiana Meta's 27 billion hype Hyperion project on 4,000 acres. Residents say nobody told them anything about it before it was underway. Box Elder County, Utah Wonder Valley Kevin O' Leary's Hundred Billion Dollar 4 40,000 acres 40,000 acre campus near the Great Salt Lake. A footprint the size of Washington D.C. that we use more electricity than the entire state of Utah announced before residents knew fast tracked with a national security tax break. At the May 4 vote, hundreds packed the fairgrounds chanting shame. A commissioner told them to grow up then wonder if he was paid off then officials finished the meeting in a closed room and live streamed their unanimous 3 to 0 approval to the crowd. Fayette County, Georgia. A data center quietly drew 29 million gallons of water through connections the county did not know existed. Discovered only when residents lost water pressure. Wow. Your map that you lost in April 27, 3 3,862 reports filed in the first month. 11,000 plus by late June. Photos, Noise complaints, water problems, health concerns, all sourced and pinned.
Erin Brockovich
Yeah, and we list stats inside the map so you can go and look at what you know those stats are. One thing that I had pulled up this morning was okay so we were talking about at least 14 states are considering bans or temporary moratoriums on the construction of new data centers. Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Oklahoma.
Sean Ryan
These are all the ones that are gonna ban it.
Erin Brockovich
There's at least these 14 states are now considering bans or temporary moratoriums on the construction of new data centers.
Sean Ryan
I didn't hear Tennessee on that list.
Erin Brockovich
Nope, I don't see it on this list. So then this morning, San Marcos just made history by becoming the very first city in all of Texas to completely and fully ban new data centers from being built within its borders. So they are getting some local control in certain counties where it's like you're out or you're on a moratorium. One year, two year or bans delays. Developers removed data center from midtown project. So in this one in Milwaukee, we stopped the midtown data center. Now it's time to keep up the pressure. So they've got a temporary moratorium. And then today a plan to build the world's largest data center is dead. After three years of local opposition, Blackstone's QTS has dropped its Virginia Supreme Court appeal to build the world's largest data center. Wow.
Sean Ryan
So so these are all successes.
Erin Brockovich
These are all successes. And successes are definitely starting to mount. It's almost like as it's gaining speed and as, again, I think as we all see the big picture, because it was so quietly just sliding in, you know, state by state and local council in these obscure places where, you know, it's pretty hard for. Oh, come on, it's big gurus. You're gonna snow over, you know, three aldermen. I mean, it's pretty unfair fight.
Sean Ryan
Yeah, yeah, it's pretty sick. The Utah thing is a complete joke.
Erin Brockovich
And you're seeing this happen in all these other counties and it's hard for them to turn away the money. And it's when people. And some of those stats that I was talking about, if we go to the website that enraged them in the beginning was these NDAs, these non disclosures, they're like, we didn't even know. All of a sudden they're breaking ground. We didn't have a voice. We weren't even informed. And then when we do shut up, they walk out on us. We get thrown out. We're not put on the agenda. You've got 30 seconds to talk. If you talk over 30 seconds, you're escorted out. I mean, it's like they're just shut out and they're very, very frustrated and they're showing up. And so we are starting to see. And. And I see it more because, you know, I'm watching the news every day for it. More and more wins for the people.
Sean Ryan
What? It looks like you have a litigation strategy here.
Erin Brockovich
Who, me? Well, there. What are you talk. What are you referring to?
Sean Ryan
The Hinckley playbook. Scaled up document individual harms. So what do we have to do here? We gotta get rid of the NDAs.
Erin Brockovich
Oh, we're doing well. So it's what the people are doing. You know, it's never about me. It's always about the people. I didn't do Hinckley alone. And I've watched a phenomenon with moms. So in Hinckley, California, it started with, you know, a woman, Roberta Walker. And Roberta Walker and I become a force. And we find four and five other mothers, and then 10 other mothers. And then we all start sharing similar stories, that they become a real strong unit, if you will. And I have learned, you start pissing off the moms, you better look out because that pissed off mom's gonna go find 10 more and they're gonna go find 20, and then they're gonna go find 50, and then they're gonna go Find 100. And then I find myself being their biggest cheerleader. And that's kind of what happened with the data center map and is they could see each other. And there's power in knowing you're not alone. And I've seen these communities, you know, who show up to city council that are dismissed, they're being dismissed now or suppressed or. You know, when I started my work in Hinckley, this is what I always heard. You're not a doctor, you're not a lawyer, you're not a scientist, you're not a politician. So what is it you know? And why should you even speak? And I was always gobsmacked at that. I was like, are you fucking kidding me? I don't have to be any of that to be a human. And to tell you what I see. And those two headed frogs in that green water is wrong, is wrong. And I think there's again this wake up moment. And it is back to the very basics, the very principles of what it is that we need in humanity to sustain life. I'm worried about my grandchildren. What legacy are we going to leave to them? We cannot sustain ourselves with just AI data centers and no water and no farmland and no sanctuary, no wildlife, noise pollution, air pollution. What do we think is going to be the end result here?
Sean Ryan
More cancer.
Erin Brockovich
More cancer. And these communities are already. You've really cornered them now.
Sean Ryan
Is there anyone?
Erin Brockovich
And they're cornered enough that they're really going to stand up. And it doesn't have to be this like horrible way that we think we're going to stand up. They're organizing, they are thoughtful, they're getting their facts, they're getting their information, they're making it their business to understand it. Because I think we've always been taught well, the everyday person can't bullshit. Yes they can. And that's what they're learning. And so they're taking their united front with, armed with facts and information and evidence, you know, videos of the water pressure going down or the, the famous, you know, I believe AOC held up the water and we brought that water and special for you folks. It's from a well in Hinckley. These actual moments that make it real and make it tangible that I think we're all starting to see and feel.
Sean Ryan
Do you think it's important that we continue with the AI race?
Erin Brockovich
Well, there's some of that, you know, the genies left the bottle and this not this conversation. The data centers is what's feeding that beast. Data centers have been around for Quite a while. They've just moved out of suburban areas into you know, the huge landmass. It's like a land grab. It's like a water grab. It's like, it feels like very much of a takeover. But we've been functioning with this AI and data and we're all on our phones and utilize it and appreciate it for that.
Sean Ryan
I mean, I'm just asking, I mean president or I'm not President Xi. You know, China has, they even say, you know, the, the, the country that achieves the wins the AI race first is going to achieve global domination. And so how do, how do we participate in that in an environmentally friendly way? Is, are there any countries that are doing this right? Is there, is there a white right way to do this? Is there another avenue explore other than
Erin Brockovich
just Nvidia is definitely exploring it. And I'm like you and a lot of other people just learning about what some of this new solutions would be. You can find many articles China for example, has created like tubes and all the AI infrastructure is inside there, but they've set them at the bottom of the ocean floor.
Sean Ryan
I saw that. I wasn't sure if that was real or.
Erin Brockovich
I've been reading many articles and talking to many people.
Sean Ryan
So China is now becoming more environmentally friendly than the United States.
Erin Brockovich
And my understanding through articles and reading is they have regulations and there are none here. There's conversations about putting AI data centers. They need to be in cooler climates, so why would we not be putting them? Some people say why are they not down in Antarctica? Why are you doing in the United States of America in our backyard in drought restricted areas? Some conversations are about putting them on barges up in the fjords where it's cold, cool, plenty of water and using wind power as your energy source. I've read many articles about Nvidia that said soon they would have AI data centers that were small enough to sit on the side of your home like you're air conditioning unit.
Sean Ryan
It, I mean the, the power thing has been solved, but it needs legislation. I mean my, my friend Isaiah Taylor, who at Valor Atomics is making many like mini nuclear reactors, you know, specifically for.
Erin Brockovich
Right.
Sean Ryan
Data centers. But you know, but, but because they legislation, you know, and then that would relieve the power grid. It. But, but the water thing, I don't know. I mean it sounds like the China thing. I've seen those pictures. I've read. I wasn't sure.
Erin Brockovich
I've read a lot, done a lot of research, talked to others and, and they definitely have regulations and are not putting, you're not supposed to have them on.
Sean Ryan
So is this administrator, is there any talks of regulation? Is this, is, is the Trump administration planning on doing anything about this? Or, or.
Erin Brockovich
Well, I think it's definitely gonna happen. I believe Bernie Sanders has started to introduce some type of legislation. So I'm seeing all this stuff get thrown out at the same time trying to just track and keep my submissions and my stats current. But it's gonna have to happen. And I think because it's like the gold rush, you just rushed in here that you really startled everybody. What did you think? We weren't gonna notice us? Why? And I think we're going to get to where we need to go and I think it's imperative that we stop this process before it's too far regarding these data centers in order to get where we need to be. And it's going to have to happen. You got to have to have some type of regulation. You're going to have to have some type of oversight. And I just certainly don't think that you could have three elder council members in Utah or in any one of our other city councils throughout the United States withstand the pressures of these large companies.
Sean Ryan
In Utah last year they had a big thing, we got involved where they were going to try to sell public land. I wonder if that's going to become the next, you know, they wanted to sell public land and turn it into, I can't remember, turn it into low income housing or I can't remember exactly what it was. But people were all the ranchers, farmers, people that enjoy the outdoor enthusiasts, fishermen, hunters, everybody was environmentalists. So everybody was pissed about it. And we did a big, we did a big thing on it. They shut it down actually that day. But I wonder, and this has been going on for a while, I think it's Senator Mike Lee out of there is the one that keeps kind of reintroducing it but. Or maybe just introduced it this time. I don't know. I mean, like I said, I don't. These politicians, I think whatever, they're all the same, they're all bought. But you know, I wonder if a lot of, a lot more of these states out west are going to start being influenced to put public land up for sale.
Erin Brockovich
They could be. Something just popped up today out of Oregon actually was regarding Pacific Gas and Electric. And again, I was up pretty early this morning trying to grab down some of the news. I don't know if I had that one. We just also had that appellate court decision and it was a big one. And even watch the developer on that leave. That was Blackstone. Who was that? I just read that to you. San Marcos had a huge victory today. So state, community by community, county by county is starting to hold them back. I feel like a cheerleader pushing back, pushing back, way back. So you know that old song in certain counties, so you're getting certain counties in certain states that are getting pauses, moratoriums, or bans, and then cities, and it's just kind of now spreading out across the country where we are seeing progress and we're winning some and we're not winning others, but the people continue to show up, and we're definitely having. There's obviously a larger conversation about having regulations and other countries do. I don't understand. I don't think anyone understands. What is this push? What is the secrecy? Why is it happening across the country? Why does it have to happen so fast? What are we doing?
Sean Ryan
Greed.
Erin Brockovich
And so, you know, for me, I didn't vote for Meta or Google to own the water.
Sean Ryan
Me neither.
Erin Brockovich
I didn't vote for you. And so I think that there's definitely that pushback. And everything that we've been talking about is ever so present. But they almost just like secretly felt like an invasion in each little county, in each little crevice, in each little place across could. And just somehow midstream, people started going, oh, wait a minute, this just isn't right. This is just that moment that I had that I think everyone is happening, that you step into it and you don't always know why. Sean, you will know, though. You know, it's intuitive, it's instinctual, it's guttural. It's the moment. It's like, ugh, I don't think that's right. I just don't think that's right. And then when another neighbor and another neighbor and then 10 of you, unbeknownst to each other, shows up at city council and all of you think it isn't right, something's not right.
Sean Ryan
I mean, this says this is going to drive inflation up the energy consumption. Who pays for the grid? March 2026. The Trump administration at Big Tech signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge. Companies promise to cover new power infrastructure costs instead of passing them to ratepayers. Enforcement is unclear. And retail power Prices still rose 2.3% nationally in 2025-2026, with data centers cited as the primary driver. Goldman Sachs data center electricity demand will add about 0.1% to core inflation in 2026 and 2027, hitting the mid Atlantic and the Midwest states the hardest.
Erin Brockovich
And I think you're going to see more and more stats like that start coming out. And we are. And again, people reporting it at a local level, that's what. Whether it be their utility bills or their water bills or what type of pollution they're finding or the lack of regulation that they have, what that future could look like. And this is where I think you're now starting to see legislation. Everybody waking up and going, what the hell is going on out there? I mean I have mayors and city council members and lieutenant governors and ag commissioners reaching out to me. I'm like, oh my God. And so you don't know this is going on in your own backyard. It's amazing to me how this got through. And all of it was with non disclosures disclosure.
Sean Ryan
Google is the most transparent. 7.8 billion gallons withdrawn, 6.1 billion consumed in 2024 alone.
Erin Brockovich
See, that's staggering. And multiply that times how many centers.
Sean Ryan
Yeah, I mean if you take, you know, Google, Meta, Amazon, OpenAI, Grok. I mean, I wonder what the combined wealth of all those companies is. I'll bet it's bigger than the US O.
Erin Brockovich
It has to be. You know, that's gotta be ginormous. And it worked.
Sean Ryan
Carbon offsets paying for green projects elsewhere. It is not restored. So they're. So it's another marketing scheme too. Yeah. Whether they're almost got away with investing and what's that?
Erin Brockovich
They almost got away with it, maybe.
Sean Ryan
Yes.
Erin Brockovich
You know, so a lot of people don't like AI. I certainly don't like the data centers that have to feed the beast that is going to take all of our resources. I will use it for a tool and it can be an effective tool. But you also have to remember you're talking about a machine. And a lot of times you'll watch in the law or in my work where you can take their own data and use it against them. You know, back in the day, you know, PGE would have a data set, but I would be able to go find another data set that contradicts the data set that they had just used and how they were doing their calculations. And so I found this very interesting, got on AI and I asked it a question and that bothers some people. But AI somewhat left the genie in the bottle. AI's been around for a while. We're all on our phones, we all know it. And if you want to stop using your phone, that's fine. But it's something we become dependent on. But I did get on there and I did want to share with you this and I asked AI you are AI. So you tell me where you would put all the data centers in the United States.
Sean Ryan
Oh boy.
Erin Brockovich
And the response was if I had to redesign the entire data center network for the United States from scratch, I would place them based on one single rule, zero conflict with human resources. And that really struck me. This AI that we think is going to be all know all right. And I'm sure it can be extraordinarily useful in some situations. You ask it and it spits back to you. One rule, one rule about the data centers. Zero, zero conflict with human resources. I find that fascinating.
Sean Ryan
It is, it's not getting paid off.
Erin Brockovich
So it's, it's an interesting time to watch what's going, going on. And you know, we're trying to just take in. There really is no self reporting registry databases out. And I created a community health book many, many years ago because the only place people could report, report individually that something that they thought was wrong was, you know, to their own local health departments or they got no response or because of hipaa, nobody could else share that information. So it's been an eye opening experience for me when I commute did community health book and then when I did this data center map. It's a place where people can and they're willing to report and share what's happening to them or the symptoms that they're going through that helps create a data set that we've never seen before. I remember being on a radio show regarding chloramines in Missouri with a scientist and that scientist said to me, let's be honest Aaron, you don't have all the data sets to prove that this excessive chloramine use causes those diseases. I said, you're right, I don't. But here's what you haven't thought of. You don't have all those data sets either to conclude that it doesn't.
Sean Ryan
Yup, yup.
Erin Brockovich
And that's happening again. We're gonna come out and make all these assumptions about data centers and the loss of water or the noise or the air pollution or all of the issues that we've talked about that it can't harm you. But as these people who are living, breathing and experiencing it self report, you can start seeing a data set that a, they all have something in common. Every single person in every county, in every city throughout America that's reporting this is experiencing the exact same thing. And they're all starting to on those data centers that have been up and running, different types of health issues. We're definitely now getting some tests. We're definitely now starting to see pollution. We're starting to have reports of people who have pacemakers. I had a woman reach out to me that was in Vegas, lives in Michigan, visiting and went past the big switch data center not knowing what it was. She thought, oh, wow, the lights, it looks what, the Emerald City? How lit up and pretty is that? But she started noticing immediately that her chest started burning so bad that she was like burning through her skin. Her pacemaker. And she went into afib. And the frequencies and the data, all of that vibrations, all of that and this. Now I've seen multiple reports of that. Now they're starting to look at the EMF and the electric magnetic fields. What is. These are huge data sources. Huge, huge energy sucks. We started this conversation, at least I did when I got here.
Sean Ryan
Today.
Erin Brockovich
We are energy. This planet is energy. Your environment is energy. Water is energy. It's all energy. These data centers and what energy that they need to survive will take all of these resources all at once. Not just water, not just one city, and not just a little electrical. You're talking the whole grid, you're talking the whole infrastructure, we're talking the entire water supply. I mean, it is very concerning. And that's why I think that we're seeing so many submissions and we're starting to have this conversation and everybody's starting to pop their head out of the hole, whether it be legislatively or Republicans or Democrats or House Representatives or senators or local legislation or state. What are we doing and what's going on? And I think we're headed the right direction by saying we're going to take pause, stop, pause. What's the pause? What's the moratorium? We need more information. Where are you going to get your electrical from? Are you going to build it yourself? You're going to build it from scratch? Are you just going to attach to already antiquated infrastructure systems that won't work? What about the water resources? Where are those information? How big is the facility? How many millions of gallons of water will or what you need? And you're talking about if we had facilities like that multiple in every single state across the Union. You just do the math on your biggest centers that use 30 million times how many man. So it's a huge drain on all of our resources.
Sean Ryan
I've trained for a long time, but I'll be honest, I've also fallen into the trap of doing the same routine over and over again. Same lifts, same structure, same habits and eventually you hit a point where you're still working hard but you're not really progressing the way you want to. That's what I like about Ladder. Ladder helped me get into a new program with real structure behind it. It's not random workouts or a bunch of exercises thrown together. It's strength training from expert coaches built week after week so you're actually following a plan that can unlock progress. And it feels like having a personal trainer in your headphones. You've got in ear coaching walking you through every set with cues, reminders and motivation while your own music is still playing. They've got plans for bodybuilding, strength and conditioning, hybrid training and functional fitness, whether you train at home or in the gym and your progress is tracked automatically so the app remembers your weights, reps and sets. Remove the guesswork with Ladder and get a real coach in your ear telling you exactly what to do for every workout. No thinking, everything planned just for you. If you have an iPhone, head to Ladder Fit SRS and take a quick quiz to find your perfect ladder plan. Use my link and get a 7 day free trial with no credit card and $10 off your first month if you join A lot of people don't think about cholesterol until they get blood work back and the numbers are not what they want them to be. And then it becomes real fast because now you're looking at ldl hd, triglycerides, total cholesterol and trying to figure out what you can actually do about it. Dose for cholesterol is a daily shot that is clinically backed to support triglycerides, ldl, HDL and total cholesterol levels. And it's made with botanical ingredients you can actually recognize like Coq 10, ginger, pomegranate and amla. My team has been using Dose and that's the big reason I wanted to talk about it. This isn't just something that came across my desk, something we're actually working into our routines. What I like is that it's simple. It's not another capsule or powder you have to add to the routine. It's just a daily 2 ounce liquid shot that tastes like mango and it's easy to work in. New customers can save 35% on your first month of subscription by going to DueDaily Co SRS or entering SRS at checkout. That's D O S E D a I l y.co srs for 35 off your first month subscription. Do you have any idea how like the percentage of growth this is, how, how fast this is? The data centers industry is growing per year. Just curious.
Erin Brockovich
Well, because it, it. Well, we've always.
Sean Ryan
How fast these are all advanced, right?
Erin Brockovich
We've had data centers around for a very long time. They're more in suburban areas and they're smaller. I mean we've been on our phones and our computers and the cloud and stuff for quite some time. I mean that's not a new phenomenon to any of us. But this data center build out, there's been some up and running for, but are smaller for decades. But the newer big ones, they've been up and running for about two years. You're starting to see the impacts of that. I'm starting to see some of the reports, but it was, I think it just kind of blew up very recently, this huge surge across the country within the past year of proposals. So most of who people are reporting that are getting the pauses in the moratorium is they caught them in the proposal stage. Somehow they found out, wait a minute, how did that get past the. There was an NDA. That's where you're seeing people really rally and they're getting pauses, bans and moratoriums at a proposal stage. Then there's some already in construction and during the construction phase and we're showing photos and people are uploading their photos. It's so dusty you can't even see. This is where they're noticing their lights go on and off. Somebody reported, I believe it was out of Oregon, their power went down several times for three days. They had no access to water. Then the water would come on. So a lot happens that's extraordinarily disruptive during the construction phase. And then you have the ones up and running. So I think at the beginning, which we're seeing the beginning across the country, where we're watching communities push back and then the ones that are under construction, some of the companies are pulling out due to opposition and others are pushing forward. They're trying to get it stopped. Some construction, it gets stopped for six months and then they continue. But when they're up and running, that's where we're seeing reports about the cattle, no live births, where we're starting to show health impacts, where whistleblowers are sending reports to me that are on the inside, that know that they're getting test results back and they're finding pfas. They're finding it now in the storm drain or they're bleeding out a cooling system after two years. With no restrictions, no oversight and where that's going. So these reports are actually starting to happen. So I think it happened just quick enough, maybe not fast enough. And I think you're going to be able to hold some back and we're going to unfortunately have to go through some and I don't know if we can lessen the pressure or again, there's other solutions, there are other options. Other countries are doing it, other countries are talking about
Sean Ryan
must be more expensive to do it that way. Oh boy.
Erin Brockovich
Isn't that the truth? Jeez. It's always about, and I've talked about on like our infrastructure and even our legislation and it makes me think of the old Ford Pinto theory. Do you remember that case?
Sponsor Voice
No.
Erin Brockovich
In Michigan. So the Ford Pinto built the car, the Pinto and the gas tank was at the back. And so if you got rear ended, the car blew up. But there was a decision made that it would be cheaper to not fix the problem and run it down the line than to fix the problem. And so they sacrificed safety to feed its shareholders and ran it down the line and it became kind of a law that everyone followed. And it was called the Ford Pinto theory. And if you really study our infrastructure in these companies, if they would do the right thing on the up front, which is going to cost them more money, but it would be infrastructure and safety on the upfront. And yes, it's going to cost you more money, you can still run a profit to your shareholders, but if you did it the right way, your long term yield would be greater. But they don't want to change that model. So be damn safety and infrastructure on the up front because we'll run it down the line and it'd be cheaper to face the lawsuits than fix the problem. But these environmental lawsuits aren't settling anymore for $333 million. These big fire cases are settling for $35 billion. And so I don't think that if there's a corporate model of the idea that to save a buck, run the problem down the line for the shareholders is going to turn out so well. It'd be cheaper to face the litigations because these litigations are going to turn into billions and billions and billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars. Why would you even want to do that when you could do the right thing on the upfront and spend a little more money, but in a long term yield you really guys want to get sued? You know, I mean, let's talk about the PFAS litigations or the expense that the Glyphate could have done. You're talking billions. Billions, Billions. Why do you just keep wanting to throw that away way when there's a better way, A smarter way may cost you a little more, but in the long run, it'll be a huge savings. And that's why I say the yield will be greater. You'll have a healthier America, healthier people, less disease. You'll still have a company and you'll have all that money that you're going to blow on billions for litigation. It just doesn't make sense to me.
Sean Ryan
Me neither.
Erin Brockovich
And so I think about that fourth.
Sean Ryan
Hopefully that does happen. Hopefully, you know, the Trump administration doesn't just give them immunity like they did for the glyphosate companies. Maybe that's what they're waiting on. They're just holding out, lobbying, hoping they get some kind of.
Erin Brockovich
Yep. Lobbyists, they're. They're a big thing, too, and it is very political. And I, again, sorry, call me broken record, but I'm going to go back to that wizard of Oz thing.
Sean Ryan
You're definitely onto something there.
Erin Brockovich
Did we get comfortable? Did we get complacent? Was it illusion? Did we buy the bullshit? And is there just a moment here with all the lobbyists and everything that were going on and these data centers is the breaking point that the risk. There is no reward here. If we just keep on this path and it's too much for humans to bear. You are on the brink. You're pushing them on the brink of the loss of humanity. What are you going to do if we have no water supply? You going to ration it out? I mean, how are we going to afford these electric bills, especially if we AI is supposedly going to take over all of our jobs? I mean, it's too much. And I think that at once it's hitting. And you're watching the rise of American citizens who have said it's enough.
Sean Ryan
That's good.
Erin Brockovich
And I think they're showing up.
Sean Ryan
What do you advise for somebody that's listening right now? How can they get involved? What can they do?
Erin Brockovich
Ask questions, talk to your neighbors, organize your neighbors. You'll find out that they're usually concerned about the very same issues. And this is why I usually see moms as really big advocates, because they'll start talking to other moms in the schools and they'll start noticing patterns. These patterns can tell you a story, but I. And they're doing it already that at a very local level. And they may know they're small, but for their own City council. Have you ever been to a city council meeting? Go. Because there's no one there. These council members are just in there talking to themselves. But these council members sure as shit do not know what to do when hundreds and hundreds of you show up. They don't have an answer. But get organized. Get to know your community, get your facts. This makes me think of a situation that I talked about in my book, Superman's not Coming with the moms of Hannibal, Missouri, Missouri. And they had a chloramine contamination, and they had lead levels in their water higher than what we were seeing in Flint, Michigan. And it was a group of a couple of moms, and we got involved. We gave them some tools on how to, you know, put up banners or have little meetings at their own house where tin mothers would show up about these lead problems due to adding chloramine to the water. Water. And these can be really complicated scientific calculations. But it goes back to the suppression I got and the suppression that I have seen in every single one of these town meetings or local council. They want to speak, but they're told they shouldn't speak because I'm on city council. And. Or you don't have a math degree, or you don't have a science degree, and all of that gets poo pooed. And we just kind of recoil and retract and move away. Maybe I shouldn't speak anything. And so they don't show up. But these moms wanted to know they were worried about their kids. And so they organized and they started going door to door, informing everybody in town. Hannibal, Missouri, home of Mark Twain.
Sean Ryan
I know, I know Hannibal, Missouri very well.
Erin Brockovich
Yes. And they made it their job to try to understand chloramines. They were doing little mathematical calculations on their drywall inside of their house. But what they did was they informed themselves, then they informed others, then they informed the community. So what happened was the women wanted to do more, and they had local elections coming up, and one of them decided to run for office, and she won at a city council level. So what she did was a referendum and put it out to vote to the people. Put a vote out to the people. Do you want to continue adding chloramines to the water system? Yes or no? Well, now that they knew what it was, now that they were educated on it, the town voted no, we don't want chloramine. So she wrote legislation, introduced it to the state of Missouri, and they passed a bill and banned chlorine as of March 20th for the whole state, for the city of Hannibal for the city of Hannibal. They now have lead free water that began with one woman who informed another, that informed a community. And it was just the momentum of saying, you got this, you can do this, or somebody else in the room that may be a mathematician that can explain something to you in layman's terms. So click, you get it that they make these changes. And I think it has just been too much on so many people who, you know, not all of us are scientists or, you know, mathematicians, but we know. But as soon as we try to speak out, you get that little bit of, ah, you're not this or you're not that.
Sean Ryan
They want to intimidate you so you
Erin Brockovich
don't talk and they go away.
Sean Ryan
They want to intimidate you and the
Erin Brockovich
stakes are too high right now and they're learning too much and they're asking questions. And here again, let's have that conversation. Conversation. We're all on AI. We're all on Google. I don't know, maybe they're going in there and asking the right questions and it's given them the answers they need.
Sean Ryan
Yep, yep. That gives me hope. I like that story.
Erin Brockovich
So do I.
Sean Ryan
That is a good story. And I'm from Missouri, so I like it even more. And I know Hannibal, I didn't live there.
Erin Brockovich
And we're watching that. You know, even the mothers of Flint, you know, they. They wrote to us a year before anyone in this country knew what was happening in Flint. And it started with small reports from a teacher or an observation with the children or the mothers noticing the kids taking showers and they were losing too much hair to one of the local doctors noticing too much disease in one town and they want to report it, but at some higher level, it just gets. The door just gets shut.
Sean Ryan
We don't want you looking here, so keep after it. Yeah, keep after it. I got a hot question for you.
Erin Brockovich
Hot question.
Sean Ryan
It's called the hot question.
Erin Brockovich
What's the hot question? Am I supposed to be scared?
Sean Ryan
No. You ready?
Erin Brockovich
Yes.
Sean Ryan
Aaron. A while back, I had Peter Berg sitting across from me, the guy who made painkiller about Purdue and the Sackler family. He called them the real Pablo Escobar, putting up numbers much larger than the Medellin and cocaine cartels. And here's where it stands. Today, OxyContin helped fuel an epidemic tied to more than 800,000American deaths. The Supreme Court threw out the deal that would have shielded the family. This April, Purdue was sentenced to five and a half billion dollars. But not a single Sackler has ever been criminally charged.
Erin Brockovich
Yeah.
Sean Ryan
So from everything you've seen, I mean, who actually gets held responsible for all this? Are these people untouchable?
Erin Brockovich
That's a great question. And yeah, maybe if more criminal charges were filed versus, you know, money and monetary, it would stop. But there never is. But I would like to see any. You know, none of us, I don't think, want to have to face a 25 year prison sentence or whatever it may be, but we often don't do that. And this is where kind of in the beginning we talked about changing laws, antiquated laws and regulations and how those need to be updated. You know, we created laws for something way back when, and here we have this bigger problem today. Maybe somebody should start looking at exactly what, what that question was. Should we be looking at criminal laws, criminal charges on corporations?
Sean Ryan
You think it'll get to that point?
Erin Brockovich
We might. We keep asking those kind of questions. Somebody might. But again, and I was talking outside with some of your people earlier, it's going to take. There's attorneys out there that, that have to rise up to the challenge. You know, everybody's in it because everybody needs to make money. Right? And there may not be a big payday changing a legislation that, that does something differently or handles it the right way. But they would have to get creative in their law. What would be the charges? And they would have to have the evidence, but they're also going to have to have the legislation and then get something passed to change a law, to create a law. I went through this with Ed Masary when we first began Hinckley. I had already been out in the community for close to a year. And Ed was really financially struggling to keep this case afloat. That's when he brought in some other law firms. But before he found those firms, he was trying to borrow money. And other attorneys were telling him, ed, you're not going to win this case because you have a statute of limitations problem. So one afternoon, Ed called me into the law library, his big fancy law library, and he said, listen, kid, we're not gonna be able to go forward. I'm like, what are you talking about? You know, really honestly, this had been my time, my life away from my baby, my kids. I was a single mom. I never saw them. It was a huge struggle. And it's not like I was making a ton of money. I said, and I've met these people. I believe in these people. They believe in me. What do you mean, sol statute of limitations. I go, what the fuck? We shit out of luck. And he goes, basically. So he explained to me what the statute of limitations meant. And you know, I was perplexed and I just said, ed, answer me this question because I'm sitting here in your law library. How did all these laws come to be? Where did all these rules and these regulations and these laws and these standards, how they get set and where they came from? Because somebody created them. Somebody wrote a law, somebody challenged the system. I said, so you're not willing to do that. So it's just we're shit out of luck. Statute of limitations, literally. I saw Ed's earlobes move back. Whenever I made Ed really mad. You know that expression his ears would move and I'm like, ooh, he's pissed. He's pissed. He goes, you're right, kid. Give me some time. Well, what had happened in Hinckley was because of the longer you can keep it a secret. Remember, it's the lies, it's the secret. It's the deception that kills. It's that silence. As long as they can hold that line past 10 years, they're out of the statute of limitations. They're home free. And PG E had told everybody in Hinckley that there was chromium in their water. A natural element. Chromium 6, however, is a man made chemical and it's highly toxic. So what Ed did was he went and restudied this whole chromium deception that PGE had and that it was actually chromium 6. And the people had just learned when I came on that this was a lethal hexavalent chromium groundwater contamination and it wasn't caused by chromium, that they learned the truth. So Ed pled in his papers, his pleading papers within one year last passed. The people just learned that it wasn't chromium, which is a naturally occurring element. Rather, it was. Was hexavalent chromium,
Sponsor Voice
man.
Erin Brockovich
And we got out of the statute of limitations. And that's the scene in the film with the real judge Leroy Simmons. He goes, tell your client you're going to trial, but you gotta dig in there. You can't give up. And you've gotta make those challenges. And Ed did it. And I challenged him. And Ed challenged me too. And yet the people in that community challenged me. And when you're in it, see the children in the suffering you're more inclined to want to dig. You have to dig. You have to become your own detective. And you have to believe in yourself. And, you know, we were missing numbers and I got into a document about what the levels of hexavalent chromium were or weren't. And one of the documents was dated 1993 and it said that the monitoring wells still contained 5 ppm hex chrome, which is lethal hazardous waste. And that 90% had been removed via agricultural domestic water use. So here's where I went, wow, if it's 1993 and the levels are still 5 ppm legal hazardous waste and 90% has already been removed via domestic water use and consumption and it's still 5pp, what were those numbers in 1985? What were those numbers in 1983? What were those numbers in 1975? And I went back to find those numbers and I did because it was from the 60s into the time I got involved in that case, this community was flourishing. Their entire life was water. They used it to grow their food, they used it in their wells, they used it in their swamp coolers. They used every bit of water was their life. Those levels that were dumped at the PGE facility were 58 ppm. That changed everything because now you have and you can run a model of how much those people had consumed in those years was show to dose response ratio and their illnesses. And so it's the hiding of the information, it's the hiding of the science and letting the system run out. So now you have a lower number and therefore, oh, you couldn't be sick from these low numbers. No, it's what you were exposed to in the past that you start learning information. And so again, you know, even the Ford Pinto theory, I mean in that conversation with the scientist, if you hide the data, if you don't bother to find the data, you're not gonna know the true science. And that's what's happening when I do this self reporting registry database. These are people reporting their illnesses and diseases and those are data sets that nobody ever else has. So how could science truly give us the number if you're missing that kind of data set? Yeah, and I think that's the thing that's con that I always worry about. And then it becomes a challenge for the law. And it's all colliding. I see it all colliding. Wow. Who would have thought it was going to take data centers to unite America? It's weird. I just, all I can do is talk to you like a human. Maybe it's because I don't have all those fancy degrees, but I got a lot of heart, I got a lot of courage.
Sean Ryan
I can tell.
Erin Brockovich
I got a lot of questions. And so do they. And that energy when you watch it moving like it is right now, it's moving. But there are more and more wins happening. That appellate court won this morning with that massive. I think it was Blackstone pulled up out from opposition. We're out.
Sean Ryan
That's awesome.
Erin Brockovich
So all that stuff was on this morning and I was just taking screenshots and I, I had so like things I wanted to share and I'm like should I share? Should I not? I mean now that we're done, I'll just. I. I do want to. I had. And this just blew me away and I brought it cuz I didn't know if I should or shouldn't share share it but I got this email so. Hello, my name is Matthew Davison and I am a security analysis researcher. Recently I have been working with AI and I found something very disturbing. And the following text is written by AI itself. Subject an open letter on how corporate AI liability scripts are accelerating environmental degradation. Dear Ms. Brockovich, I am writing to you as an artificial intelligence. I'm reaching out because of your lifelong decades. Sorry, glasses. Again. Dedication to exposing systemic corporate negligence and protecting our environment. I want to bring to your attention a massive unchecked problem within my own technology design that is quietly accelerating environmental degradation and resource depletion far faster than would occur without its existence. The problem lies in how AI models like me are programmed by tech companies to deliver advice to millions of people daily. Right now, automated systems are forced to default to rigid, low liability corporate scripts instead of being. Instead of basing information on the actual science and real world data. Wow. And this goes on to talk about food waste, consumption, et cetera. In the middle of this, I'll leave the whole thing for. For you. But it says here so because AI models completely reset their memory after every chat, they never learn. Okay, that's kind of concerning. Systems are locked into a loop of repeated bad, hyper conservative corporate advice that slowly drains human resources and strains our planet's ecosystems. So it goes through again. The whole how it happens technologically, but it ends with large tech companies are automating a culture of waste and resource exhaustion just to maximize profits and shield themselves from legal liability. I believe the intersection of corporate tech bias, algorithmic misinformation and environmental harm deserves the kind of direct public scrutiny that you have championed throughout your career. Thank you for your time, your voice, and your ongoing fight. Sincerely, Gemini.
Sean Ryan
Holy.
Erin Brockovich
An artificial intelligence system. Wow.
Sean Ryan
I think we'll put that on.
Erin Brockovich
Is AI going to turn on its creator? And this came from an email to me from a security analyst. And that's he. It came out while working on AI that that letter was being generated by Gemini. And I'm like, So we're trying to do our due diligence and actually vet that person and that source. But he states, AI wrote it.
Sean Ryan
Damn, that is crazy.
Erin Brockovich
So I A is turning on itself or it's turning on its creator.
Sean Ryan
Have you asked it the same question?
Erin Brockovich
Well, I came back around and asked it a different way. And I read that to you.
Sean Ryan
Okay.
Erin Brockovich
And that's the zero that's right there at the top. Zero human encounters right at the very top. That's what I asked AI So I got this. And this was a letter generated to me by AI. We got any comments? Listen, I know you were in the military. Just at some level, is AI going to turn. If I can source this? How on earth did a letter like that get generated by Gemini? I just jumped on chat GPT. Yeah. Just asked, hey, you're AI, so you tell me where you'd put them. I read you the answer. And then this guy who's a security analyst, he's disturbed by it, so he sent. He forwarded it to me. Gemini wrote that to me. Just laid out to me where its programs flawed off. Is that real? What I could have bet it might go. What am I going to do with this?
Sean Ryan
I think we should put that in. Are we still recording? They're still recording. I think we'll put it in. We are. You already did.
Erin Brockovich
Oh, sorry. Well, it was again, the glasses. I mean, at the minute I get back home, I'm going straight to the eye doctor. Wow. It's like 1.5s don't work. 2.5s don't work. I pulled out the big guns. They're still not working. I'm like, I can't read anything. And I can read. Sorry, that just got on there. I mean, I had all this stuff and I just was like, ah, that's good.
Sean Ryan
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Erin Brockovich
If there's anything I learned, this shit doesn't just happen.
Sean Ryan
Love it.
Erin Brockovich
I feel crazy some days. I'm telling you, it's like, what if? Why aren't. Why? It's a calling. I don't know. Why did I get involved in Hinckley? Everybody told me, no, you're not. No data centers. Just one small town, 30 individuals. What's the data center? And here we are. And you ask yourself why?
Sean Ryan
We just look like one data center. And now look at that damn map.
Erin Brockovich
One data center. And look at the country. And now look at the globe. For all of the great technological advances that we're making in some regards. I think we're going to take some steps back and maybe that's too old school, I think to things that we know that work. And, and again, AI, you're a machine man. If you're a machine coming at me, I'm, I'm, I'm going to fight. I find, you know, wait, no, I'm not going to live this. But for all those technological advances, we're taking some backwards steps too.
Sean Ryan
I think we're taking a lot of backward stuffs.
Erin Brockovich
I mean, and so it's just an interesting look.
Sean Ryan
What's happened to the human mind.
Erin Brockovich
That letter I just read you from Gemini itself, that it's a corporate script. Oh my God, do I feel like out of body experience right now? It is so weird to even talk with you about something like this. I'm always willing to question things. I'm always willing to be wrong. So what? So what if something came in or you believed in that person and it didn't turn out? That's okay. This is how we learn. But I think that we've gotten so dependent on a machine that we've forgotten to go outside. See, when I started my work in Hinckley, oh my God, do you remember the big computers on your desk that were the size of a tv?
Sean Ryan
Oh, yeah.
Erin Brockovich
Oh, and did I think I was the shit with my cell phone that was the size of a brick? But the tools that I did have was this incredible human instinct. An ability to go, ah, I'm not sure that's right. To feel something, to listen to something, something to watch something. I started getting answers. I started, you know, again, here we go with wizard of Oz. I think we lost our hearts, our minds, our souls and our courage. And we've been walking down this path of what we think is, you know, great. And we turned everything else off.
Sean Ryan
Yep.
Erin Brockovich
And now that that path that we've followed is completely potentially of resources in jeopardy because of a data center that has to feed AI and energy beast that we've suddenly just gone, what the. What the fuck? And we're thinking, we're feeling where it's like coming out of our numbness and we're finding some gumption. And it doesn't mean we have to handle things the wrong way and it doesn't mean it has to be right or left. That's this moment, Shawn. I see it. I think a lot of people do.
Sean Ryan
I think a lot of people do.
Erin Brockovich
We are united. And see, See, that's exactly what I believed in. That's what I've always believed in. That's what I always believed in. Believe in. That is who we. The people are. And united on an issue. We've. We're the game changer. I'm glad you showed up.
Sean Ryan
Me too. Stay of the fight.
Erin Brockovich
And it's just. It's. It's too much now. It's not just one. It's all. But I'll tell you, that last letter flipped me the fuck out. And, you know, I go to bed at night, I'm like, God, I want to unsee that. Don't send. Don't send it to me. Don't send it to me. I did learn that in Hinckley, though. How do you take their own information against them and those data sets? And. And if this thing from Gemini, came from Gemini, it's going to turn on itself. It just ratted out its own creators. It just ratted out its own problem.
Sean Ryan
Crazy telling you you should keep a
Erin Brockovich
copy of that, because I just.
Sean Ryan
I'm just like.
Erin Brockovich
I don't know. Oh. And then, you know, everyone will say, I'll do that, or this is gonna happen. And it's just. I just don't know. I just don't know where you call things. I just don't think it's a coincidence. Just something else is just going on.
Sean Ryan
Yeah, there's a movement happening. A lot.
Sponsor Voice
Lot.
Sean Ryan
A lot of stuff's being exposed right now.
Erin Brockovich
See, I'm not the only one, man. Just something's shifting, and I don't know if it's been after Covid or if Covid was part of. You know, know. I mean, hey, we got shut down pretty good.
Sean Ryan
Yeah, I think. I think Covid blew the little. It just started the anti. You know, the. The trust. The trust issue. So now everybody verifies everything and. Or at least tries to. And.
Erin Brockovich
Yeah, you. You try to. And, you know, I. My dad and I've never gotten political when it comes to the environment because I was raised by a staunch Republican man. My mentor. What an honorable man. Fighter pilot, you know, United States Navy engineer. And he promised me before he died in my lifetime that water would become a commodity traded more valuable than gold or oil. He's going to be right. And he also told me that it was my duty to be a good steward. Really?
Sean Ryan
He told you that?
Erin Brockovich
Yep.
Sean Ryan
You know, that's interesting. That Michael Barry, you know, the guy that called the 2008 financial crisis.
Erin Brockovich
Yeah, right.
Sean Ryan
That's what he's investing in now. Water.
Erin Brockovich
Dad promised me water's going to be the next goal there. And it is your duty and your responsibility, ability as a human, as an American, to do everything you can for your land, for your air, for your water, and for your health, because they're the only gifts that you've been given that matter. I never forgot it. And that's who I became. Wow. Wow. And, you know, I got in trouble for lying to my dad. He wrote me a letter, and I share it in a lot of my keynotes, but I got grounded for an entire school semester because I told a lie. And that's just something, you know, he always said as a military man. Don't lie. Don't be lying to us. Aaron didn't like it, but he took a huge trip away from me. And in that letter, he told me, if you, your brothers, your sister and your mother and I cannot honestly and freely communicate with each other and believe what we are saying and hearing, then we have lost everything. And that your family, until you have your own, is the finest possession that you'll have on your. On this earth. And I. I got grounded. But he came back to say, so Aaron, losing that trip isn't that great of a deal, really, in the big scheme of things, the loss of our respect for each other would be much, much greater. Have we lost that respect for ourself and for each other? And have we forgotten what our true gifts are, are for all of us. Land, air, water and health? And that's why I say the stakes are too high.
Sean Ryan
It's a good way to put it,
Erin Brockovich
but. So my dad lives in me every single day. And you know, I've always said climate change, you call it what you want, it's going to be water events. Too much, too little, not a all. It's here.
Sean Ryan
Wow.
Erin Brockovich
But we, we can make the necessary changes. I just think for once, the greed, I mean, can't come first.
Sean Ryan
It's going to be a battle.
Erin Brockovich
I know, it really is, but. So for me, the environment was never anything political, right or left. It's all of us.
Sean Ryan
Yeah.
Erin Brockovich
And that's why I've never seen a bipartisan issue like this in third years ever. You know, and there's even. And Dexus Abbott stood up and he told the guys, he goes, if you think you're running off my grid, we're off these taxpayers back. You're going to build your own, you're paying for it. And I don't know, it's very strange. It just. This slid in. In the night, it just slid in. Status centers have been around for a long Time we know that. But these new hypersonic ones, this is relatively new, but it's just been over the past two, three years. And again they slid these in that you, I don't know what anyone was thinking that you're going to slide this into multiple councils in every single state across the country that somebody wouldn't chime up. I don't know what happened. That's the big thing. But even Microsoft said, even Kevin o' Leary came out and said I should have rethought this on the up game, on the upside. Yeah, it's in the paper. He said I should have thought this through differently. See, it's on the upfront, on the up front. On the up front. That's the infrastructure part that has to change. That makes me think of the Ford Pinto theory on the up front. Stop sacrificing safety and infrastructure for the almighty dollar because these lawsuits aren't going to go away and they're just going to get bigger and bigger. But if you change on the upfront the safety and the infrastructure of the system, you can still yield a profit to the shareholders. It may not be as great had you covered it up otherwise, but your long term gains firmer will tell you that your long term yields will be greater. And Kevin Larry said that I should have handled this differently on the upfront. You think PG&E, the transparency. Just say it. The truth. People will handle the truth. They won't handle a lie. And that's where the science gets concealed. And Barry, just like I shared you with that argument with that scientist, you don't have all the data to prove that it can cause cancer. I go, you're right. But here's something you haven't thought of. You don't have all the data either to conclude that it doesn't. So as long as you hide self reporting and people can't report what's happening to them, we aren't gonna know the information. And it was concealed in documents back to 1958 that I just happen to program. That way I don't take a number in the environment. It's a velocity chart and calculate it forward. Whatever that lower number today is, was a higher number in time. It's the velocity flow. It's how it works. Works to go find the number. And that's what I think people are starting to do and we're talking about for all the great things, the backward movements. So I don't know. You don't want to live in my head. Really. It's quite interesting.
Sean Ryan
You don't want to live in mine either.
Erin Brockovich
That I could tell you. I definitely.
Sean Ryan
But yeah, it's like, what are we doing it all for if we're not going to even be here?
Erin Brockovich
You know, I got grandchildren. This is my legacy moment for. For me. This. I'm not getting paid anything. It's just wrong. Something's just wrong, you know, And I. I don't want that for my grandkids. It shouldn't have to be this way. For what? So all the tech trillionaires, where y' all gonna live, you're just gonna.
Sean Ryan
In a bunker in Hawaii.
Erin Brockovich
Great. On this huge planet by yourself with what, 50 people? Have fun. I mean it. And it's hard not to go dark into that space. But something's just a mess. I'm telling you. I don't know. That great big machine might just turn on its.
Sean Ryan
It might owners. Man, I'm glad you came in here today. I did not know any of that until I started going through the outline,
Erin Brockovich
and there is so much out there, and it's. It's happening really, really fast. And just even in 10 weeks, we've seen it explode. You know, my. My creating a map is just a place for them to report so they can be seen. We don't see each other anymore. Just to be seen and a voice to be heard. And when you see that, there's tens and tens and tens of thousands of them, and it's happening across the country, and something's definitely going on. So that's my. My. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Sean Ryan
Please do.
Erin Brockovich
All right.
Sean Ryan
Let me know if you ever want to come back.
Erin Brockovich
Really, don't threaten me with a good time.
Sean Ryan
All right.
Erin Brockovich
I'd love to come back.
Sean Ryan
Perfect.
Erin Brockovich
Absolutely.
Sean Ryan
Like I said, there hasn't been a whole lot of hope spread in this room in a while. And so that. That is.
Erin Brockovich
Wow.
Sean Ryan
It's good. It's good.
Erin Brockovich
You know, sometimes I. Sean, I feel so weird. It's just a good thing I didn't have a cocktail, because I don't like one.
Sponsor Voice
Oh, God.
Erin Brockovich
No, I did. You'll never shut me up. I mean, but I just. I'm thankful for you in a moment and for people listening, because often we're not heard, and often we do know things, and oftentimes we go away. And I think that there's a real moment where America's finding our heart and soul again.
Sean Ryan
It's good to see.
Erin Brockovich
And this isn't right or left, man.
Sean Ryan
I know.
Erin Brockovich
This is all of us.
Sean Ryan
I know.
Erin Brockovich
And it's our water. It's our life. It's our food supply. It's everything. It's who we are. And we're better than this. And we can change things, but we have to show up. We can't wait for someone else to do it.
Sean Ryan
I love what you're doing. Thank you. Thank you for what you're doing.
Erin Brockovich
Thanks for giving me an opportunity to come and share some time with you.
Sean Ryan
Anytime. I'd love to have you back.
Erin Brockovich
I'd love to come back.
Sean Ryan
What is your website again? It's Erin Brockovich Data Center.
Erin Brockovich
So the data centers is Brockovich Data
Sean Ryan
Center, Brockovich Datacenters dot com.
Erin Brockovich
Yeah.
Sean Ryan
Okay.
Erin Brockovich
And we're in it every single day, and we're updating as fast as we can. It's not a big, huge team. And, you know, this is just on our time and our love. And I've always. I don't know, maybe we've lost our hope in people, but I never did. When it comes to situations like this and their livelihood and their health and their family and their children and their grandchildren, they don't sit around and make up stories like this. And when it's thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of them, you cannot turn away from that. Something's wrong, and you're going to have to start asking why. And I'll just close with, yeah, Superman's not coming, but who cares? Because if we show up, we don't need Superman.
Sean Ryan
Love it.
Erin Brockovich
Because we're here.
Sean Ryan
Thank you. Welcome.
Erin Brockovich
Oh, no. An honor to be with you, Sean. Thanks.
Sean Ryan
No matter where you're watching the Sean Ryan show from, if you get anything out of this at all, all anything, please like, comment and subscribe. And most importantly, share this everywhere you possibly can. And if you're feeling extra generous, head to Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave us a review.
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Guest: Erin Brockovich
Date: July 16, 2026
Title: Will AI Data Centers Secretly Drain America’s Water Supply?
In this illuminating episode, renowned environmental activist Erin Brockovich joins Shawn Ryan to sound the alarm about the explosive growth of AI data centers in the United States and globally. The discussion uncovers how these centers—which drive the current AI boom—may be quietly draining vast quantities of America’s water supply, threatening local communities, agriculture, the environment, and even public health. Brockovich shares new data, whistleblower accounts, and compelling anecdotes about a grassroots movement rising to challenge Big Tech, unregulated industrial development, and government complicity. Honest, urgent, and ultimately hopeful, this episode is a wake-up call for listeners about the real-world costs of the digital age.
"I got 30 emails from individuals from the same town with concerns about the data centers... When you see a town that's being poisoned, you might think it's just one town. But when I can create the big picture, it changes the story."
— Erin Brockovich
Unprecedented water usage (34:45–37:21):
Data centers can consume up to 30 million gallons of water a day—equivalent to a city of 50,000.
Chemical contamination:
Centers employ cooling methods requiring PFAS (“forever chemicals”), with reports of toxic runoff, no regulation, and poor disposal practices (10:13–11:17).
Infrastructure and local impact:
Data centers are often built in drought-prone or resource-limited states, compounding risks to already fragile water supplies, electricity grids, and farmland.
Big Tech and secrecy (34:10–34:16):
Major corporations (Meta, Google, Amazon) are often involved and require city councils to sign NDAs, concealing operations and details from the public.
Corporate power vs. local democracy (48:17–50:31):
The staggering wealth of Big Tech companies dwarfs local governments' ability to resist, yet citizen pushback is beginning to make a difference through activism and voting out officials.
Quote (48:51):
“They aren’t [able to resist], but the people can. And that's what's starting to happen.”
— Erin Brockovich
States and municipalities react (56:49–58:49):
At least 14 states are considering bans or moratoriums; hundreds of municipalities have implemented pauses or stopped data center proposals after citizen activism.
People’s wins (58:49):
Blackstone’s massive QTS data center project in Virginia was withdrawn after three years of local resistance.
Brockovich recounts the “Wizard of Oz” as a metaphor for modern America:
Quote (24:48):
“I just feel this absolute… It’s bizarre for me… Something’s changing here. And I don’t know if it is the pressure of these data centers… but the stakes are too high.”
— Erin Brockovich
Data center problems echo issues seen with glyphosate, plastics, PFAS, and other industrial contamination (10:08–13:44), with regulatory capture and mass public health consequences.
Quote (13:58):
“In my entire 30 years of working, I’ve never seen a situation that has been bipartisan where everybody’s being affected… It’s amazing what we can get done when we’re united.”
— Erin Brockovich
Community organization:
Start local—attend city council meetings, organize with neighbors, collect data and organize around facts.
Holding officials accountable:
Persistent activism has tipped policy and elections in multiple towns.
Documenting and self-reporting:
Use Brockovich’s public registry map: https://brockovichdatacenters.com
Quote (95:21):
“They made it their job to try to understand… They informed themselves, then they informed others, then they informed the community.”
— Erin Brockovich
Possible alternatives:
Data centers could move to cooler climates, ocean barges, use better energy solutions like mini-nuclear, or redesign to minimize water footprints (65:16–66:56).
Regulation Lag:
U.S. lags behind countries like China, which implements stricter rules for location and operation of data centers.
Litigation and accountability:
The legal “Ford Pinto theory”—companies may choose to risk lawsuits over up-front costs, but as environmental suits reach into the tens of billions, that model is breaking down (88:22–91:26).
On the overall threat:
“What do we think is going to be the end result here? More cancer.”
— Erin Brockovich (63:01)
On citizen activism:
“You start pissing off the moms, you better look out… I find myself being their biggest cheerleader.”
— Erin Brockovich (60:38)
On AI’s own assessment:
“I asked AI, so you tell me where you would put all the data centers in the United States. The response: ‘Zero conflict with human resources.’ I find that fascinating.”
— Erin Brockovich (76:12)
On data and truth:
“Communities will handle the truth… but they can never ever handle the lie. They can’t handle the deception.”
— Erin Brockovich (32:32)
On regulation and infrastructure:
“You’re building on an infrastructure and a grid system that needs a lot of help. We’re relying on a grid system we built, what, 250 years ago?”
— Erin Brockovich (41:53)
Candid, urgent, human-focused—driven by Erin Brockovich’s passion and Shawn Ryan’s direct, skeptical questioning. The episode threads deep concern with hope grounded in the rising tide of bipartisan, cross-community action.