Elon Musk is at it again, terrorizing small town America for his own personal gain. You may remember
our petition about Boca Chica, a small unincorporated community in Texas that Musk ravaged with his SpaceX project -- local families had to endure house-shaking explosions, acres and acres of bushfires, and even Musk's demands for them to move out entirely.
Now that his aerospace exploit is in full swing, Musk has moved on to another of his pet projects -- artificial intelligence.
And of course, it wouldn't be an Elon Musk affair if countless people weren't suffering to make it happen. To build a "supercomputer" that will power his xAI, Musk has taken over a facility in South Memphis -- without any communication with community leaders, City Council members, or even the correct permits for methane gas generators that are already pumping pollution into the community.
Sign to tell the Tennessee Valley Authority: do not approve Elon Musk's power plan for xAI that will choke the residents of Memphis in poisonous pollution!Extremely important to note is that South Memphis is home to many historically Black neighborhoods including Boxtown, a community built "in the aftermath of the Civil War by formerly enslaved people." Today, Boxtown is a close-knit, strong community despite the decades of systemic failure by the city to provide infrastructural support like running water, working electricity, updated roads, and so on. Memphis continually has allowed filthy, polluting factories to move in next to these Black neighborhoods, jeopardizing people's health and wellbeing.
Now, Elon Musk is the latest beneficiary of South Memphis' Black communities' struggles. In order to fulfill his own fickle desires, the billionaire moved into his South Memphis facility -- a building the size of 13 football fields -- with no regard to how the community might feel. His plan is as dystopian as it sounds. He wants to
expand his supercomputer named "Colossus" in order to support his own brand of AI,
which would require siphoning millions of gallons of water and dozens of megawatts of electricity away from communities who need those resources simply to live.Musk already has nearly two dozen methane gas generators running outside of the factory without any of the necessary air permits. This tech nepo baby thinks he can do whatever he wants without following any rules or regarding anyone else in his decisions, and it's sickening.
The residents of South Memphis deserve better. Due to the environmental racism there,
cancer rates are "four times higher than the national average" and the average life expectancy is "10 years lower than other parts of the city." The last thing these communities need is a power-hungry, petulant billionaire like Musk putting them in even more danger.
This is truly evil. xAI cannot be allowed to continue in this way.
If you cannot build truly innovative, powerful technology without the help of fossil fuels or stealing resources from marginalized communities, you're not actually a good businessman.
Elon Musk should be truly ashamed.Let's stand together and ask that the Tennessee Valley Authority, the federal agency that has the final say in approving xAI's plans, stop the harm that is already victimizing South Memphis! Sign the petition if you want to see Elon Musk stopped!"2019-06-11-tesla-shareholder-meeting-elon-musk" by Steve Jurvetson / Steve Jurvetson is licensed under CC BY 2.0. 