Iranian Offramps NEPA Compliance Consultant

living in Queens and being subject to this schedule on a Saturday and it's no wonder that people in this borough understand public transportation as solely the agent to get you to your M-F job on Work Island and expect you to rely on cars any other time

The sheer tonnage of condescending replies I got re: solar made me realize that the solar and AI communities use the same politically obtuse arguments for their preferred infrastructure. No wonder the rest of the internet hates AI data centers so much. I really cannot emphasize to you enough how bad of an argument this is: “hey, ‘we’ should replace [a bunch of land that isn’t mine that sustains other peoples’ livelihoods and is deeply rooted in their identity], which is pointless and dumb anyway, with [my preferred thing]. That would make ‘us’ better off.” This is what created local opposition to renewables in so many cases. There was no positive story beyond the infrastructure being abstractly “good” for “us.” I used to track the politics of local renewables pretty closely. Beyond similar attitudes and talking points among the opposition, I even see some familiar names and groups. Indeed, a lot of these local data center bans and restrictions I see are also zoning restrictions on utility-scale solar and batteries. All these things have been infected: opaque, foreign, not for you, instead for “us.” I know some will reply that we should change laws to make NIMBYism harder to exercise institutionally. I support federal permitting reform and, what’s more, I would be a big supporter of metropolitan or regional-level planning as opposed to hyperlocal planning. But those aren’t the laws on the books, and even if permitting reform happens, it’s unlikely to stop the kinds of bans/moratoria on data centers and moratoria that are being enacted. You have to deal with the world as it is. I’m still not sure how bad NIMBYism will affect the AI infrastructure buildout. It seems right now as though it might end up being pretty bad. Unfortunately I have bad news: I am aware of no one who handles these politics well here on x dot com. This is an elite signaling platform for the most part, so that’s fine, but I don’t know anyone who handles the politics well IRL either. I am grateful, however, for all the patronizing replies about solar. You made me realize a connection—two case studies in political malpractice—that I hadn’t seen before.: The AI industry is making the same mistakes of the climate left. It was hard for me to see this, because I am “pro-AI” and definitely “pro data center,” whereas I always found myself weary of the climate left. But now I see clearly that the pro-AI community looks to many Americans like a rationalist imposition on their lives from the same opaque “we”—the purveyors of reason, the arbiters of truth, the ones you never meet but who come to your town and tell you that your way of life (corn ethanol growing, say) has been Deemed Obsolete (not “is obsolete in my opinion,” but, “Is Obsolete”)—who brought you the climate movement and so much else. Understand this is political analysis. I’m not trying so much to express my own views as to diagnose a problem in my own “movement” from the outside. Indeed, surveying some of my old work, I can see how it fits the critique I am making perfectly.

Florida's High Speed Rail Operator Brightline Seeks Rescue to Avoid Potential Bankruptcy

Florida's High Speed Rail Operator Brightline Seeks Rescue to Avoid Potential Bankruptcy

Brightline under-reported truth in 3…2…1… The company has not had trouble attracting riders. March was its highest ridership month ever. It’s because it’s saddled with capital debit from building the operation. Debt that is assumed by the government for public passenger rail.

yup. no notes.

A lot of y’all better get acquainted with Amtrak. Flight prices about to skyrocket.