West End of Louisville, 37th and Broadway(Michelle Tyrene Johnson)Communities across the country continue to share their displeasure at the idea of locating data centers in their backyard. Some residents in Louisville have raised concerns about how a data center project slated for the West End will affect health outcomes in the area. The area – which is home to mostly Black Louisvillians and low income residents – already has a concentrated corridor of commercial factories and plants.LPM’s Michelle Tyrene Johnson has this conversation with LaTricea Adams, the founder, CEO and president of Young, Gifted Green, an environmental justice organization based in Memphis. They discuss what lessons Louisville might learn from Memphis in the fight for health and environmental equity.It’s the latest installment in LPM’s Stolen Years series, which explores what’s working to close the 15-year life expectancy gap between east and west Louisville.This excerpt of the conversation has been edited for length and clarity.Michelle Tyrene Johnson: I was looking at Memphis, Tennessee as a possible comparison city for my project here in Louisville.LaTricea Adams: We are battling a huge data center. In fact, one of the largest at the time. It's been almost two years since xAI has stolen its way into our community. We didn't even have any type of democratic process around how this data center came into the community.Now, what's unique about this particular data center is they adopted the Silicon Valley mentality of we have to go fast, build fast at warp speed. They wanted to move quicker than what our local utility could provide as it relates to energy, and so they installed, without a permit, methane gas turbines. With these methane gas turbines, they contribute to smog because this particular community where xAI is located is not new to pollution.In addition to the contribution to smog, these particular turbines also emit formaldehyde and NOx nitrogen oxides. It is the most polluted ZIP code in Shelby County and among the entire state of Tennessee. There's high poverty, but then also, from a historical perspective, Boxtown, for example.It has such a beautiful history and such a beautiful legacy, where it's called Boxtown because post-emancipation formerly trafficked Africans - I'm gonna say it that way - used train boxcars to build houses. So that's literally why it's called Boxtown. So much history and pride in the community, but for many decades been treated as the "quote unquote" least path of resistance.MTJ: Are you seeing any indications that there are communities who are succeeding in improving health outcomes and narrowing life expectancy gaps?LA: No, I really wish that I did. I think that there are cities that have had good programs.I'm actually going to use a really specific example: this infant mortality program that existed in Shelby County, Tennessee, which is where Memphis sits. And at one point, Memphis was in the top five for infant mortality, and so they got some significant funding to build out a program around prevention. So not just coming in after the fact, but a lot around prevention. That program works so well, like even the messaging, like this was decades ago, and I still remember the jingles that you heard on TV around, you know, around infant mortality.And then what did they do after they had this successful program? They cut the funding, and so then what happened? The infant mortality rates started to go up. I think that we kind of know what to do. We have research, we have applied research. We know what could work, but it is the inconsistency of investment. And now with the current federal landscape, it's even more dire as it relates to how do we truly bridge that gap?It's like every time we may take a few steps ahead, something knocks us right back.MTJ: How can that gap be bridged between the government resources and what communities need?LA: I definitely think that there should be more expansion of mutual aid and self-sufficiency, where we can attend to our own needs. Now, I am not a person that's just like, “no, don't take anything from the government.” That's our money. Let's be clear. However, look at where we are right now.MTJ: What do you think the government needs to do to help minimize these challenges and limitations? Because I'm just really trying to figure out how do we step up and face the health issues that come from data centers in particular as AI is becoming more popular.LA: There's a federal tool that's survived called COBRA. But essentially, what COBRA does is it gives you estimates around the economic implications for certain types of environmental hazards. If there were more opportunities to quantify the amount of money lost when you don't invest in healthcare, when you don't invest in preventative care, I think that that would really move the needle. We spend so much money on being reactive. How can we shift and save billions of dollars by being proactive? I think that is actually something that should not be partisan. Public health is fiscal responsibility. How do we continue to better articulate that and make that relatable to policymakers and decision-makers? ...read more read less