It’s worth noting that in the long term data centers devalue property. As a lawyer for Microsoft said “no one wants to be near a data center.”

In fact, reports are circulating that the U.S. is close to an 18-month blackout. Data centers certainly are not helping out.

Some reports say an 18-month blackout would really last longer than 18 months because of the equipment needed to bring the power system back online - there is already a shortage of equipment for data centers, which are being prioritized for power in many situations over people.

So what would an 18-month blackout look like?

Anyone on life support would die. Backup generators only last for so long. Anyone requiring life-saving surgery would also probably die. The Internet, even cellular internet, could go down, but even if it didn’t, unless you have a solar charger, you wouldn’t be able to power your phone. And even then, you still may not be able to charge your phone and other electronics. Even if you’re fortunate enough to rely on solar power or wind power, these forms of energy don’t work when it’s cloudy and very cold, as I discuss more in detail on my recent article on renewable energy.

911 services probably would go down as they are increasingly being “upgraded” to be part of the “grid”. Many would be unable to do their work. Credit/debit cards wouldn’t work, and undoubtedly, neither would digital currency. The digital infrastructure people use to get into their homes and offices could even be affected. Electrical vehicles wouldn’t operate. Anarchy would undoubtedly break out with mass crime over the situation. The lights would go off and we would be reliant on candlelight or if we’re lucky, solar powered lights. Flashlights could work if you have enough batteries in supply.

It’s a time to pray for the best, pray for Gary, Indiana, and pray for the rest of the United States that we will not suffer a mass blackout, but it is imperative now more than ever - to be prepared to live a completely off-grid life for a few years at this time. Don’t think for a moment you will get power before the data centers.

In January 2026, the Union of Concerned Scientists (“UCS”) published a paper proclaiming that “clean energy” can meet the needs of data centers but without any specifics (at least in my opinion). Similarly, the Clean Energy Group (“CEG”), the Clean Air Council (“CAC”), and Pennsylvania Physicians for Social Responsibility (“PPSR”) published a paper in February 2026 on AI’s cost and how it is changing Pennsylvania’s “energy landscape”. (Oddly enough, when I privately and respectfully confronted them on the inconsistencies in their paper and presentation on their paper - with evidence - they kicked me out of the webinar without providing any reason despite me asking all three groups the reason for such.)

I presented a plethora of evidence to these organizations questioning their hypothesis, but rather than receive a response from these organizations to corroborate their so-called correct findings and predictions, I was met with silence. It’s as if these organizations lack any respect for anyone that challenges their hypotheses; particularly when one challenges their hypotheses with a load of evidence to support a different hypothesis.

The Truth About “Renewable Energy”

For starters, let’s begin with some definitions. UCS, CEG, CAC, and PPSR assert that “clean energy” or “renewable energy” is the answer to powering data centers. But what do these terms truly mean?

In short, “renewable energy” has been defined as energy “generated through the use of natural resources” as opposed to fossil fuels.1

Generally, sources of renewable energy include hydropower (“using marine and tidal power, the flow of streams and rivers, reservoirs and dams to move turbines that generate electricity”), solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy (energy that uses “steam from deep within the Earth to operate turbines that generate energy” and geothermal heat pumps), bioenergy (burning organic materials to generate electricity), and hydrogen energy.2

What’s important about “renewable energy” is most of it is truly not “renewable”; for example, to create infrastructure for solar energy or for energy using turbines, the petrochemical industry must first be used3.

Additionally, these forms of energy are not truly “renewable” as the lifespan of solar panels and turbines usually do not exceed thirty years4. Accordingly, after the lifespan of solar panels and turbines, new forms of energy must be created to provide power, making these sources of energy not truly “renewable”.

Moreover, both solar panels and turbines create waste problems, which I would say is hardly green.5

Solar and wind energy components also require destructive mining to the earth, often using child slave labor in dangerous conditions in developing countries, to make their components.6

Also, wind energy often using concrete for foundations, which also relies on using the petrochemical industry.7

Lastly, solar energy is not going to work absent sunlight and wind energy is not going to work absent wind nor will it work if the temperatures are so cold that the turbines freeze. Generally, wind turbines can work when the temperature drops as low as -4 degrees Fahrenheit; and some turbines can be engineered in a manner to work in temperatures as low as -22 degrees Fahrenheit.8 While these are very cold temperatures, I’ve experienced them on more than one occasion living in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, and quite often when I went to college at Syracuse.

Hydropower as well as geothermal power are also only available in certain locations as a source of energy.

Geothermal energy can only be used where there is a geothermal reservoir, an area underground where heat and water are present; “[g]eothermal energy comes to the earth’s surface in three ways”: volcanoes and steam vents, hot springs and geysers. In the U.S. most geothermal plants are in the western states, Alaska and Hawaii.9

Hydropower requires a water source. Usually, to generate hydropower, a dam is needed, and constructing one could destroy the habitat of some aquatic organisms and even make them extinct. We also know that fluctuating precipitation makes some areas not ideal for being a source of hydropower and changes in the water cycle could hinder the ability to generate hydropower.10 Building a dam to create hydropower requires a large financial investment up front. Moreover, building a dam could affect local groundwater levels, harming nearby agriculture, local ecosystems, and wells. Dams also require close monitoring of river flow to prevent releasing too much water being released at once to prevent flooding. After an extended period, reservoirs behind dams can accumulate sediment, which could limit a hydropower plant as well as affect downstream ecosystems. Lastly, natural disasters could cause a hydropower plant to fail such as an earthquake, severe rainfall, landslides, fires and explosions.11

Both UCS, CEG, CAC, and PPSR tout renewable energy as a way to de-carbonize. the atmosphere; however, there is some fallacy to this reasoning, at least when it comes to bioenergy and hydrogen fuel that is produced by fossil fuels. According to the Center for Biological Diversity, bioenergy not only causes pollution and emits more carbon than a smokestack. It also harms the ecosystem from logging forests to create organic matter to burn for energy. Moreover, bioenergy is ineffective for reducing wildfires and wildfire emissions. Lastly, it is expensive compared to solar and wind energy.12 Even the USDA has found that bioenergy has its cons in increasing crop prices, even when biofuels are created from crop waste and find that pollutants related to growing biofuel crops and processing the biofuels may result and that growing more biofuels may result in an increase in water pollution from fertilizer, pesticides, and sediment.13 While Global Bioenergy notes that bioenergy is an “abundant and renewable energy source” because the organic materials powering bioenergy “are constantly available and can be replenished”, is reliable and does not depend on the weather like solar or wind energy, they note it is less efficient because “[t]he process of converting biomass into energy requires a lot of energy. In some cases, the energy needed to grow, transport, and process the biomass is higher than the energy it produces.” It is also worth noting that bioenergy requires large amounts of space and biomass energy plants need to be located near biomass plants, “which limits where they can be built.”14

Hydrogen power can be used to power a data center anywhere despite weather fluctuations that make solar and wind power not feasible in some locations. The production of hydrogen fuel is energy-intensive and also expensive, whether it is produced by fossil fuels (which it is, for the most part), or by water (which is increasingly scarce).15 The low energy density by volume makes hydrogen fuel difficult to store and transport. This problem is exacerbated by hydrogen fuel being quite flammable. Per mechanical engineer Enver Halimi, “The process of converting energy into hydrogen, storing it, and then converting it back to electricity can result in energy losses at each stage”. As such, hydrogen’s efficiency could be possibly lower than other energy sources. Sustainable Energy Strategist Joseph Hwani has stated that if hydrogen is “leaked into the atmosphere [it] can act as an indirect greenhouse gas, reacting with pollutants like methane to extend their lifetime in the atmosphere. It can also impact ozone concentrations, potentially harming air quality and the recovery of the ozone layer, and it can create water vapor in the atmosphere, deepening the greenhouse gas effect.”16

CEG, CAC, and PPSR Wrongly Opine That AI Data Centers’ Power Needs Today Can Be Met Solely By Renewable Energy and That the Future of AI Will Require Less Computing Power Based on China’s “DeepSeek” Model

CEG, CAC, and PPSR’s paper assert newer AI models such as China’s DeepSeek may “use less computing power” (pg. 26).

First of all, I don’t think DeepSeek is aspirational, regardless of computing power. Due to DeepSeek’s cybersecurity threats, it is actually banned altogether in Italy and Germany, and may ultimately be banned by the entire EU. It is also banned by government agencies in Australia, India, Taiwan, and the U.S.17 Additionally, DeepSeek is highly censored, even more so than models in the U.S.18 - it is after all, made in a country with rampant censorship.19

Second of all, I question any assertion DeepSeek makes given it is a product of China. Also, DeepSeek was created using smuggled U.S. chips - I would like to know if they at least paid fair value for them. It is also worth noting that slave labor is more rampant in China - is this a totally sweatshop free product? We also know DeepSeek has used Huawei and Cambricon chips, which are banned in the U.S. - and for a good reason - because they present security risks.

But importantly, it’s evident CEG, CAC, and PPSR lack an understanding in how AI is trained and how it is deployed. They don’t understand that DeepSeek is a “chain of thought model”, different from other forms of AI. As explained in an MIT article, “The life cycle of any AI model has two phases: training and inference. Training is the often months-long process in which the model learns from data. The model is then ready for inference, which happens each time anyone in the world asks it something.” While DeepSeek’s training required less energy to produce than other models, because it is a chain-of-thought reasoning model, the use of it requires more energy20. As stated in the MIT article, “Overall, when tested on 40 prompts, DeepSeek was found to have a similar energy efficiency to the Meta model, but DeepSeek tended to generate much longer responses and therefore was found to use 87% more energy.”

Moreover, as discussed below, studies not only show that AI data centers cannot currently be run entirely on renewable energy, but the next phase of AI will be more energy-intensive.

Studies Have Shown that AI Data Centers Cannot Operate Solely On Renewable Energy and the Next Phase of AI Will Require MORE Energy

There are multiple reports stating that future AI models will require more energy: the IEA, the IMF, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, Bloomberg, Rand, Deloitte and MIT.

In Rand’s report dated January 28, 2025, it is stated

Making renewable energy sources suitable for AI data centers remains a challenge. The vast majority of generation capacity added to the grid in 2024 comes from wind and solar energy. However, because of daily and seasonal variations, power generation from these sources is less consistent than traditional sources (such as nuclear, gas, or coal) unless they are combined with energy storage. Current data center design requires power being available more than 99 percent of the time. Although some developers have indicated that AI training workloads could accommodate reduced power reliability, this is not yet done in practice. Given these constraints and additional permitting challenges associated with using renewable energy, some industry experts emphasize gas power plants, in addition to renewables, as an important source of additional capacity to ensure reliability. (pg. 3) (citations omitted)21

Deloitte reported in a June 24, 2025 paper that “in some cases, the transmission needed to bring renewable capacity to load can take over a decade to build, and space constraints can limit the build-out of sufficient capacity next to data centers.” Deloitte also reported that local restrictions on renewable projects have vastly increased, indicating that even if renewable energy resources are available, local governments are restricting the use of these energy uses.22

A November 18, 2025 article from Deloitte specifically states “The next generation of AI data centers is likely to […] consume hundreds of gigawatts of power. In most of these facilities, […] the very floors will likely need to be thicker to support denser and heavier server racks.”23

In a May 20, 2025 report by MIT, it is stated

“AI data centers need constant power, 24-7, 365 days a year,” says Rahul Mewawalla, the CEO of Mawson Infrastructure Group, which builds and maintains high-energy data centers that support AI.

That means data centers can’t rely on intermittent technologies like wind and solar power, and on average, they tend to use dirtier electricity.”24

In a study entitled “Electricity Demand and Grid Impacts of AI Data Centers: Challenges and Prospects”, it is stated

The decarbonization of AI data centers faces several technical and economic bottlenecks. First, AI data centers require a continuous and highly reliable electricity supply, whereas renewable resources such as wind and solar are variable and location-dependent. This creates a temporal mismatch between real-time data center demand and the availability of carbon-free generation. […] Second, many regions with rapidly growing data center loads face transmission congestion, limited clean-generation interconnection capacity, and long grid-upgrade timelines, which constrain the physical deliverability of renewable or low-carbon electricity to data center sites. Third, firm low-carbon supply options, such as […] geothermal, hydrogen-based generation, or long-duration storage, remain costly or are not yet widely deployable at the scale and speed required by AI data center growth. Fourth, annual renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) and renewable energy certificates (RECs) can reduce market-based emissions accounting, but they may not ensure that data centers are physically supplied by carbon-free electricity during every operating hour. (citations omitted)25

Additionally, even if AI data centers could solely run on renewable energy, a paper entitled “AI Data Centers and Power System Sustainability: Understanding the Sustainability Implications of AI-Driven Data Centers on Power Systems” stated

IEA projections show that more than half of the additional electricity required for data centers through 2035 will come from non-renewable sources, with natural-gas generation alone increasing by 220–285 TWh to meet rising demand in key markets such as the United States and the Middle East. As a result, the rapid expansion of AI data centers risks outpacing the clean-energy transition, potentially increasing system-level carbon emissions, constraining renewable integration, and creating new sustainability challenges for power grids worldwide. (citing IEA, “World Energy Outlook 2025,” IEA, Paris, Tech. Rep., Nov. 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2025)26

This same paper states “In the Stated Polices Scenario (STEPS) projection, global data center demand through 2035 is met 45% by renewables, 25% by natural gas, and 20% by nuclear energy. These trajectories offer a direct quantitative framework to interpret the regional analysis in the following sections.” (citing IEA, “Electricity 2025,” IEA, Paris, Tech. Rep., Feb. 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.iea.org/reports/electricity-2025)27

Lastly, CEG, CAC and PPSR fail to address that a data center may report that it uses 100% renewable energy when in reality due to the use of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), fossil fuels are actually being used to power data centers. As explained by a report published April 10, 2025 by the International Energy Agency,

Most renewable energy PPAs are financial agreements for annual volumes of electricity and are not tied to the hour-to-hour consumption profile of a data centre or the generation profiles of the renewable assets, which can also be located in different regions. While these PPAs help data centre operators meet their clean energy targets, the separation of renewable generation and data centre consumption often means other sources, like natural gas or coal, are used to meet physical electricity needs. This results in a physical electricity mix that differs from the procured, or “financial”, electricity mix. (pg. 75)28

CEG, CAC and PPSR Argue That Battery Storage, Instead of Diesel Generators, Should Be Used Without Recognizing the Limitations and Risks

While it is true that diesel generators can create air pollutants through their exhaust, posing a risk to the health of humans and animals, and are typically louder to operate, battery storage systems have their limitations and own risks making them possibly not preferable to be used.

Just like solar panels, mining of rare earth minerals, causing environmental degradation and often employing child slaves in dangerous conditions, is used to create the components for battery storage systems. Although in battery storage systems “the use of rare earth elements is much lower than in [….] wind turbines. The lithium-ion batteries that predominate in the market mainly use lithium, graphite, nickel, manganese, cobalt, and iron” and these “rare earth elements can appear in electronic components, sensors, control systems, inverters, and auxiliary equipment responsible for the operation of storage systems.”29 Additionally, the U.S. Department of Energy has highlighted that the components needed for battery-energy storage systems are usually made overseas, which pose a national security threat, as well as a threat for the U.S. to be able to obtain these components in the first place.30

Like renewable energy sources, batteries can create waste problems, particularly since they do not have a long lifespan31.

CEG, CAC, and PPSR are correct in pointing out in their paper that data centers require a lot of water to operate. But in advocating for battery systems, they neglect to address that even more water may needed for them than diesel generators due to the fire risk posed by battery systems. A defective or overheated cell in a battery system can cause thermal runaway, which can result in fires and explosions.32

Not only do these fires require a lot of water to extinguish, once the fire is extinguished, there is a risk of reignition thereafter. For example, on May 15, 2024, a BESS-related fire occurred at Gateway Energy Storage Facility in San Diego with continued flare-ups for a week after the initial fire broke out. On January 16, 2025, another BESS-related fire occurred at the Moss Landing site in Monterey County, California with an additional flare-up occurring after the initial fire.

Another problem with these fires is the hazardous waste created by damaged batteries and the leftover toxic water from fighting such fires requiring specialized cleanup and disposal procedures.

Not only are hazardous gases produced by battery system-related fires, but even absent a fire, absent proper ventilation for battery gasses, harmful gas emissions that harm humans and animals in the area can also result.33

Lastly, CEG, CAC, and PPSR seem unaware of battery storage’s limitations to provide power. Lead-based battery storage can provide for Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)34, providing back-up power for about 10 to 15 minutes35. However, paradoxically, studies have shown that UPS systems can actually result in power failures36. While lithium-ion based or nickel-zinc battery systems, also known as battery-energy storage supply (BESS) can provide power for a long period of time, it too, still has its limitations. Most battery-energy storage systems are designed to provide power for 1 to 4 hours; however, some systems, such as those using nickel-zinc can be designed to provide power up to 10 or more hours.37 However, there is no evidence that any battery storage system could provide enough backup power in a situation where there is a blackout lasting for days.

Surprisingly, CEG, CAC, and PPSR do not discuss the option of using solar photovoltaic generation nor hydrogen fuel cells for backup systems and ignore the fact that not every generator is diesel - some are natural gas generators. In fact, in one study, hydrogen fuel cells are mentioned as a feasible backup source despite their initial large investment and additional infrastructure requirements, and safety systems. As discussed above, because solar power can be intermittent, solar photovoltaic generation tends to be intermittent as well.38 As such, absent hydrogen fuel cell backup, diesel or natural gas generators seem inevitable as another backup source of energy for a data center.

Even If Renewable Energy Were an Option for Data Centers, There Are Still a Plethora of Problems Created by Them

Even if a data center were able to run completely on “clean energy”, there are still a plethora of problems, such as exorbitant water use. In a 2026 paper entitled “Electricity Demand and Grid Impacts of AI Data Centers: Challenges and Prospects”, it is written that

High-density AI computing equipment produces substantial heat, which must be continuously removed to maintain safe operating temperatures and avoid hardware failures. Many large-scale data centers consume substantial volumes of water daily to dissipate heat, often amounting to tens of thousands or even millions of liters. As indicated in the IEA report, a 100 MW data center in the U.S. consumes around 2 million liters of water per day on average, equivalent to about 6,500 households. The same report estimates that global water consumption for data centers is currently around 560 billion liters per year and could rise to around 1,200 billion liters per year by 2030. Specifically, water consumption in data centers is mainly through evaporative cooling systems and cooling towers, where water evaporation is used to reject heat from chilled-water loops or air-handling systems. Additional water use may occur in humidification systems that maintain indoor environmental conditions for IT equipment, as well as in water treatment and blowdown processes that control mineral accumulation in cooling systems. Beyond these direct water uses, data centers also contribute to indirect water consumption through the electricity generation used to power computing and cooling loads, particularly in regions where thermal power plants are major generation sources with substantial water consumption for cooling. (citations omitted)39

As I have discussed before, noise and infrasound pollution as well as EMF are also problems related to data centers despite what source of energy is used. In fact, the use of solar panels could exacerbate EMF pollution.

Unfortunately, CEG, CAC and PPSR’s paper nor UCS’s paper discuss these other problems. Nor do they discuss the fact of AI taking away jobs, being used to carry out surveillance and drone warfare. It’s as if UCS, CEG, CAC, and PPSR are ok with data centers - as long as “renewable” energy is used.

Other Problems with CEG, CAC and PPSR’s Paper

Apart from renewable energy, CEG, CAC and PPSR’s paper contains other problematic information.

First of all, the paper relies on maps from FracTracker as evidence as the location of data centers rather than any actual mapping of data centers. (pg 6). FracTracker can be helpful in determining where a data center may be placed, but there are several spots on the map where there is not a data center. Not all data centers rely on fracking for power. Ironically, FrackTracker’s own website even states not all data centers are powered by fracking. There are 1.7 MILLION fracking wells in the U.S., but there is no where near a million data centers in the U.S. - by all accounts, there are not even more than 15,000 data centers in the entire world.40

CEG, CAC and PPSR’s paper also states that “low-end prediction estimates data centers will represent 6.7 percent of all US energy use by 2028” (pg 19); however, on February 12, 2026, Callum Williams, a writer for The Economist wrote that data centers already nearly account for 7% of US energy use41 and we have not yet even entered the third quarter of 2026.

CEG, CAC, and PPSR’s paper is misleading in stating that heat pumps “extend the duration of peak demand (pg 12); however, they do not seem to understand that heat pumps are not the best source of energy, at least for cold winter nights and hot summer days in Pennsylvania; heat pumps work by extracting heat from the outside air in the winter to warm homes and reverses to pull heat from the outside air in the summer to cool homes.

CEG, CAC, and PPSR state “data centers aren’t guaranteed to be around long-term (pg. 26) despite the fact data centers have existed since the birth of the internet and are necessary for cloud computing, government and corporate surveillance, and for AI, things I don’t see going away absent a massive coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun or a massive electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapon that takes down the grid entirely for a long time period. Not only is AI increasing for individual use, but I believe it is growing even more for government and enterprise use. We also live in an increasingly oppressive surveillance state that is morphing into a police state, which means the demand for data centers will only grow, at least in my opinion, having studied data centers for the past 14 years.

6

See e.g. https://hamiltonlocke.com.au/unlocking-clean-energy-the-crucial-role-of-rare-earth-minerals-whats-all-the-fuss-about/

https://apcoworldwide.com/blog/critical-and-rare-earth-minerals-the-cornerstone-of-a-sustainable-secure-and-just-energy-transition/

https://time.com/7319360/child-labor-clean-energy-mining-solutions/

https://www.congress.gov/event/118th-congress/joint-event/LC72512/text

https://e360.yale.edu/features/china-wrestles-with-the-toxic-aftermath-of-rare-earth-mining

https://www.epa.gov/radiation/tenorm-rare-earths-mining-wastes

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2026/03/rare-earths-race-risks-environmental-disaster

The Free Press

Your iPhone Was Built with Child Labor

In 2022, I flew to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, with an eye toward driving west over the border into the Democratic Republic of Congo to report a story about a Bitcoin mine and a story about a Belgian prince trying to save mountain gorillas…

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3 years ago · 111 likes · 45 comments · ADAM POPESCU

So what can we expect if he wins again?

Nothing good, in my forecast.

Acco…

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Hopefully with my right-to-know request I will get additional details.

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Coming soon I’ll have a guide on steps to take for when a data center comes to town.

Obviously if you’re not in Pennsylvania, your form will look different, but I hope this serves as a good guide as questions to ask.

As always, I am available for consults. Check https://calendly.com/jennifer-leigh-pelton or e-mail me at jen@4responsibletech.com.

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I am also writing a guide for what I would do if I knew a data center was coming to my town that will be available for paid subscribers but I plan to also sell elsewhere for those who do not wish to …

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WTF does this say about other states?

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Some names and facts have been changed not just for…

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Respectfully, it’s time to move on.

If people haven’t already changed their minds by now when it comes to …

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I was raised a patriot and still consider myself to be a patriot. While I see …

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Age verification laws violate the law is contrary to the First Amendment right to free speech.

Proposed age verification laws such as the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) also known as the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act (KOSPA) essentially require people to present their ID to use services online. This chills free speech if people cannot act anonymously on the internet. We have all had embarrassing issues we “Googled”, asked Quora, shared on Reddit, or the like. We have all had our complaints about our loved ones or boss or some other issue we wanted to share for empathy or compassion and remain anonymous to prevent negative consequences. Heroic whistleblowers have sought to bring important information to light and relied on anonymity in order to do so. Many whistleblowers have remained anonymous, but think of those who have been brought to light who have made important changes in our country.

Think of Reality Winner, who revealed Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election (and by the way got a prison sentence for her heroic act).

Think of all the Boeing whistleblowers such as John Barnett (who subsequently died in a mysterious manner)

Think of Karen Silkwood, a former chemical technician at a nuclear power plant who came forward to describe the dangers of nuclear power.

Think of Factor 8, which revealed that Bayer (yes that same Bayer selling harmful glyphosphate) was selling a drug comprimised of blood plasma from Arkansas inmates infected with hepatatis and HIV and obtained without their consent (under Clinton’s reign as governor), resulting in haemophilia patients all around the world, including children, developing the same. (By the way, the documentary on this is hard to find, but I found it for you here and it’s definitely worth watching.)

Of course we remember Linda Tripp and the whole Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton ordeal, and NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Lesser known but other very important whistleblowers include Mark Klein, William Binney and Thomas Drake, who also revealed the government’s use of surveillance on Americans and former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who revealed waterboarding of detainees in “the war against terror”.

Consider former Congressional staffer Susan Lindauer who reported Iraq did not have “weapons of mass destruction” and in return became the first American declared “an enemy combatant”.

Think of Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI whistleblower, who revealed the company was using copyrighted material to train AI (and was subsequently found dead in mysterious circumstances - and I’m not accussing Sam Altman of foul play, but it is convenient Suchir was supposed to testify against him and was dead before he could and Altman’s reaction to Suchir’s death, in my opinion, was odd.)

Without whistleblowers such as Tyler Schultz and Erika Cheung who reported Theranos’ fraud, Elizabeth Holmes may be walking as a free woman today.

Think of my own personal friend, Ryan Hatwig, who told on Facebook’s censorship.

In my own life, think of the people who have come to me and given me information about the corrupt, unethical, and illegal practices of mold inspection companies We Inspect, The Mold Guy, and Certified Mold, and HomeCleanse (formerly All American Restoration), the mold remediation company that has left me without the use of my own home for nearly a year now. Without the anonymity I have offered the heroic people who have come forward to me, they likely would not have disclosed important inforamtion that is of public interest. And if I did not reveal the information that I have, others could have faced similar harm that I have and I like to think my actions have saved people from dangerous working conditions that have been reported to me that I have shared. By the way, if you are intersted in this and more information will be revealed soon, check out my other substack.

Mold & Corruption

Mold & Corruption is about the dangers of mold and perhaps the even more dangerous practices of "mold remediation" that affect at least half of the population and cause a multitude of health problems.

By Jennifer L. Pelton, Esq.

Age verification acts will not only silence whistleblowers, but everyday people. Age verification laws are an attack on our right to free speech.

Our fundamental right to privacy is usurped by age verification laws as it prevents a person from acting privately.

To this end, age verification laws could silence people from communicating with those whom they are entitled to have private and privileged communications with - attorneys, healthcare providers, and clergy. Moreover, such communications are not admissible as evidence so the government may be doing itself a disfavor by not allowing these communciations to remain private.

Age verification laws constitutes an unconstitutional search/seizure of one’s personal information in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

In general, when a person is not being detained by a law enforcement officer, one is not obliged to identify himself or herself. Requiring people to identify themselves when there is not even reasonable suspicion by law enforcement that the person has committted, is committing, or plans to commit a crime is a violation of the Fourth Amendment right to be free from such a search and seizure. Age verification laws presume all people are guilty and must prove their innocence, which is contrary to our justice system, which holds that a person is innocent until proven guilty.

Age verification laws deprive people of liberty without due process, in violation of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments.

The Constititon grants people great latitude to speak freely; however, age verification laws will remove that right and without due process. As stated above, age verification laws presume people are guilty and must be burdened by proving their identity when they have done nothing wrong. People should not be punished by proving their identify due to the acts of others.

Age verification laws also usurp a parent’s right to control what his or her child does on the internet. The Supreme Court and many state courts have held that a parent has a fundamental right to parent his or her own child and taking away such rights requires dues process.

While I am not a parent (unless my dog counts), I have spoken to many parents, and I have not spoken to a single one who supports age verification laws. In fact, they are annoyed by such and point out the absurdity of their 17-year-old having to come to them to download a weather app for their phone. From a policy perspective, age verification laws use up a parent’s time that could be spent on better things such as work and contributing to the economy.

Though unfortunate some children have been victims of online predatory actions, we should be pinning fault on the parent for not monitoring his or her child. If we allow age verification laws to protect children, it is a slippery slope to having the government kidnap all children to raise themselves. It is the parent’s role to raise his or her child in the way that he or she sees fit, and it should not be the government’s role to police people’s online activity nor is it the government’s role to decide what is appropriate for a child to do or not do on the internet.

Age verification laws give a whole other meaning to the term “nanny state”.

And for those parents who are absentee, they can already control what their child has access to through internet controls.

Age verification laws are against public policy to allow businesses to operate in our capitalistic economy, placing undue burdens on them to operate their businesses, which in turn could cause companies to increase the increased prices these companies may face onto the customer. (Think of Trump’s tariffs - I respectfully submit to you that companies didn’t suffer - people did as companies passed increased costs to the customer).

Age verification laws deprive states of their rights to govern under the Tenth Amendment.

Any federal age verification law also violates the Tenth Amendment, which delegates authority to the states. Our founders created a government that was to have minimal federal laws and allow states to mostly govern themselves.

Age verification laws actually can harm children and adults and do not solve the problem they claim to address.

Age verification laws can actually cause the problem they claim to reportedly address.

The messaging platform Discord, popular among young gamers, recently established an age verification policy. ICYMI, Persona, the Peter Thiel (yes Palantir co-founder and chair behind Palantir and associated with Jeffrey Epstein) backed company controlling the process, was hacked, revealing the identities of its users.

You may think revealing your identity is no big deal. In today’s age, it is. Your identification card reveals A LOT about you. Your address. Your date of birth. Your biometrics. It makes it easier for a person to steal your identity. It also makes it easier for predators to go after children or people they wish to stalk.

You may have noticed that I have removed photos of myself and have replaced with a graphic. This is because photos of yourself can be used to create databases. Companies can use your photos to create composites of your future appearance. When someone has your photo, they can create fake images. You could be framed for a crime.

If you’re still unphased by what I’m saying, I ask you to take less than three minutes of your day to watch the video below.

Another problem with age verification laws is it is possible for a company to sell that information, essentially profiting off your personal information.

And what happens when you share your identification with a company like Persona? What’s to stop Peter Thiel from having that identification sent over to ICE? How do we know our identification will not be shared with foreign enemies to effecutate acts of terrorism?

I have no doubt the real winners of age verification laws, like so many other laws, are those making them themselves by the stock they hold in these companies and the money get from these companies for their campaigns. Age verification laws are a win for these corrupt adults, and a loss for children and well-intentioned adults who are burdened by the acts of child abusing criminals, many of which are involved in making such age verification laws.

It’s a mixed media piece, but here’s a photo of it below.

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It’s not everyday you see a top law firm representing multi-national corporations make such a damning admission, then again Norton Rose Fulbright is the same law firm that had a webinar featuring a Microsoft attorney asserting she “didn’t want a data center in [her] back yard” (as noted …

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But there seems to be something off, something inorganic about these anti-Flock and anti-data center movements and now complaints about Leonardo (discussed below). These technologies have long been in decades. Sure, these technologies are proliferating, have vastly improved and are used more by our government, but why NOW, when the nail is almost nailed shut on our humanity are people deciding they maybe care? And why are the organizations leading the fight against data centers and ALPR technology not bringing up significant other issues? Is it deliberate, or are these organizations really that incompetent? I have come to the conclusion that these movements are perhaps some kind of a psychological operation, or “controlled opposition” is being used, much like figures such as Alex Jones I perceive to be “controlled opposition” by often raising fantastical notions and acting fervently unhinged to discredit legitimate questions such as

• Did L. Harvey Oswald really kill JFK?

• Were there really weapons of “mass destruction” in Iraq?

• Are UFOs/UAPS/aliens/inter-dimensional beings/demons real?

• Are we in a simulation? Even Neil deGrasse Tyson is questioning this…

But back to the subject at bar, and that is ALPR.

Flock Is For the Sheeple

Now in no way am I defending Flock. They do dominate the market. However, the founder, Garret Langley, was born an entire DECADE AFTER ALPR technology was rolled out. Did Langley improve the technology, allowing it to be streamlined and work with other services? Probably. Is he getting money from the government for playing a villain by saying those opposed to him are terrorists (see below) while more nefarious companies lurk in the shadows and silently do more to surveil you? Probably.

Is Flock violating wiretap laws through their technology with their “ShotSpotter” technology? Undoubtedly, but the government has been doing worse and violating the constitutional rights by mass illegal surveillance of all our texts, e-mails, phone calls, and keeping them in perpetuating since the early 2010s. Garrett Langley is quite benign, in my humble opinion, compared to what goes down in Langley, Virginia, home of the CIA, and even more benign than what goes down at Fort Meade, home of the NSA and all their other locations throughout the U.S.

But I much rather have Garrett Langley, this baby-faced thirtysomething who at least presents as more humanistic than the creatures I refer to as Peter (Terrible Thiel) Sam (A**hole) Altman, among other. And to a certain extent, I can appreciate the work Flock and Garrett Langley. There is no right to privacy in public. However, it is what they are doing with the data they collect and perpetually keep and use analytics and share with other entities that is the problem. Nonetheless, as you will see, you will probably agree with me I rather have Garrett tracking my Uber use and overhearing me talk about my obsession with cute dogs (yes I do have OCD!) than other companies out there.

Even more significantly, unlike many of those other companies out there, a Washington court has ruled that one has the right to access data from Flock through the Washington Public Records Act (the state’s version of their own sunshine law…you may know such laws on a federal basis as FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), or FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) in New York, Right to Know in Pennsylvania, GRAMA (Government Records Access and Management Act) in Utah, TPIA (Texas Public Information Act) in Texas…you probably get the idea now…Some states like Connecticut, like the federal government, refer to their sunshine law as FOIA as well.

Not only are such records not up for public access when it comes to other companies, but a court-ordered subpoena may even present challenges, as discussed below.

Leonardo Is For the Novices

It’s nice to see people catch on that Flock is not the only company out there and that one of their competitors if Leonardo. And I’ll admit some YouTubers have made some good videos I’ll link below describing the company. I just want to add an important point that as an attorney others may not have caught onto - that because Leonardo is a foreign company, it could be more difficult to access their records. I don’t see how you could get them under Sunshine Laws like Flock. You may even run into a legal battle as its an Italy-based company; however, they do maintain an office address in North Carolina, and I can show you first hand they are availing themselves to the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania by this camera they put when one exits a park - see below. (Seems like a waste of money to me, but just my opinion and hey I don’t pay taxes in this locality!)

By the way, as to the latter video, I have some better ideas on how to cover your tracks (pun intended!) - but that’s for another article. What I want to discuss now is the plethora of other companies that I view as worse that appear to get no attention.

Even More Significantly, Apart from Flock and Leonardo, There Are Several Dozen Other Companies Surveilling Us Using Not Only ALPR Technology, But Using Far More Intrusive Surveillance and Appear to be More Nefarious Holders of Such Technology than Flock and Leonardo (IMHO)…Here Are Just a FEW…

Because of the plethora of all these companies, I won’t go into specifics - unless you want to give me a book deal! - but I will briefly mention them so you are aware.

While Flock does dominate the ALPR market, competitors are close behind and may even surpass Flock in the future.

Motorola Solutions’ (digging the new features on here!) Vigilant is probably the current largest competitor against Flock (so it’s surprising why all the attention on Leonardo now). Not only does Vigilant operate ALPRs, but they can even track you down without a license plate. Given Motorola’s cozy relationship with law enforcement, providing them with body cameras (that for some reason bad cops decide not to use and purposefully turn off during significant events such as the Stephen Paddock/Las Vegas event (which we are able to know about because one brave officer decided, in my opinion, following the standard of care was above another officer apparently trying to cover something up)3 and this is just one but many instances of bad cops abusing their power and covering their cameras when it seems to be in their interest (in my view).4 _{(By the way, I’m not saying all cops are bad - there was one in law school who was quite nice and I give them the benefit of the doubt they are there to protect people and are good people - I’m just saying I’ve had some pretty bad experiences…the ones in Texas and New Mexico who accepted forged papers from my father and allowed me to be trafficked to a cult who held me at gunpoint and held me hostage weren’t very helpful and I had a cousin - whom I consider of no relation to me anymore - who assaulted his wife in front of his three-year-old daughter - are probably among the reasons why I have been forever excused from ever serving jury duty in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, after explaining such to them!)}

Motorola is also in the business of selling your data as well. And it probably goes without saying that ICE is a big customer of them. Also, you probably know this, but they sell smart phones - one of the types I would last trust given their other lines of business. It makes me wonder if given their close connection to the police and these phones if they even bother with IMSI catchers a/k/a stingrays devices - see the footnote below5 if you’re unfamiliar with this technology - and I recommend you do learn about it and how you can protect yourself…more on that in an upcoming article…or if anyone wants to give me a book deal…Speaking of ALPR tech and companies that also provide law enforcement body cameras, let’s now speak about Axon (which also has a Jeffrey Epstein connection by the way!)

Axon not only has a contending role in the ALPR market with its “Axon Outpost” and its “Axon Lightpost”, but also supplies law enforcement with body cameras, drones and robotics, a plethora of AI tools, and infrastructure for law enforcement to “[u]nify [their] public safety assets with a fully automated and rapidly deployable real-time crime center”. What’s concerning is Axon, a private company mostly serving law enforcement, is also getting too far in the role of prosecutor and judge (IMHO) with its “Brief One for Justice” product, that “[a]ccelerates case review with AI that surfaces key evidence fast”.6 You really have to wonder how far away we are from that movie Mercy now.

Axon’s Connection to Jeffrey Epstein

Axon describes Carbyne as “the intelligent infrastructure layer of Axon 911[7], providing cloud-native call handling and routing built for resilience, scalability, and the demands of modern emergency communications.” Essentially, it takes the long-working 911 system we’ve had in place for decades and is moving it to the cloud to make it somehow better.8 Other journalists have covered it, so I won’t get too far into details, but essentially, Epstein gave $1 million to Carbyne, along with former Israeli prime minister and apparent Epstein associate Ehud Barak.9 If you can’t understand the problems of one of the world’s most notorious and nefarious child sex traffickers having a role in the U.S. emergency system, I don’t know what to tell ya - maybe they can explain it better. In my opinion, I see it as a means to further prevent reporting of REAL crimes to authorities for survivors of these evil-doers to obtain justice and wreak other havoc on the U.S. population. I don’t think these evil-doers care about us - remember - they have their own system of sick (pun intended!) doctors, dentists, pilots, bankers, etc. to take care of their own…or so they did…

By the way, if you STILL have a Ring camera, don’t think all’s good because supposedly they no longer contract with Flock (that doesn’t mean they don’t share information, however), because Ring DOES partner with Axon.

Rekor is yet another ALPR company that I see many people suggesting as a replacement to Flock. It’s worth noting they are pretty tight with Amazon, helping them with safety logistics.10 They also have partnerships with a number of entities, that in my view, are suspicious:

• automotive companies from Ford to Volvo (hey, maybe that’s why your car insurance is increasing);

• FlashParking, which provides “high-tech products that power the parking evolution with smart software”;

• MS2, described as “a national leader in transportation data management and analysis and has the largest traffic count database in North America”;

• SoundThinking, described as “a leading public safety tech company that delivers AI- and data-driven solutions for law enforcement”;

• Waze (WTH?!);

• infrastructure consulting firms AECOM and Atkins;

• Amber Alert (which has some interesting conspiracy theories…);

• Axis Communications, which “offers solutions based on sight, sound, and analytics to improve security and optimize business performance”;

• Blyncsy, which “delivers data on how people move and use the infrastructure that connects us all to increase safety, sustainability, and efficiency”;

• ClearRoad, which “provides cloud-based solutions to keep roads well-maintained”;

• Drakewell, which “develops traffic collection, evaluation and reporting salutations that provide agencies with manufacture independent traffic analysis software”;

• Geotab, a company which is described as “advancing security, connecting commercial vehicles to the internet [11], and providing web-based analytics to help customers better manage their fleets”;

• Drakewell, which “develops traffic data collection, evaluation and reporting solutions that provide agencies with manufacture independent traffic analysis software”;

• Mobileye, described as “leading the evolution of automcobility from advanced driver-assistance systems to autonomous driving”;

• Nexar, which has a “network of connected vehicles provid[ing] trillions of fresh, ground-level images and creates the largest road vision data inventory”;

• Sensata INSIGHTS, which “makes sense of IoT [Internet of Things…if you don’t know…you should know!] data to empower the smartest decisions across the entire supply chain”;

• Tel Aviv University (no comment except to say Israel is big in the surveillance tech industry);

• Mastercard (WTH?!);

• Nokia (which also has a hand in the surveillance industry, which I plan to feature in an upcoming article);

• SAIC, who vaguely states its “expertise in advanced technology integration, operations, and policy help uphold national security or improve citizens’ lives”; (by the way notice the “or” in their description…quite telling!

• Solaren, “a leading provider of security and police” in Tennessee and the southeastern U.S.;

• Verra Mobility, “a global leader in smart transportation focused on smart cities, smart roadways, and the connected systems that tie them […] together”;

• PredictHQ, whose “demand intelligence helps demonstrate the impact of such sports, expos, festivals, school holidays, severe weather, and more”…what’s more? I can only think of Minority Report (although $cientologist Tom Cruise is in it, I do have to say it is a good movie)

It’s also of note that Rekor has a partnerships with Motorola (as discussed above).

So my advice is to those thinking of exchanging Flock for this - be careful what you wish for - because you just might get it - and it may be even worse.

Of course there are DOZENS of other companies out there - about SIXTY (sixty). However, to keep reporting on these other companies will take more resources - please consider updating your subscription to becoming a founding subscriber or even “buying me a coffee”. And I know the economy is tough, so if you can’t financially contribute, just spreading the word helps, which is why I have made this article paywall free.

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