Sep 23, 2026
Rescue crews are racing to find hundreds of workers trapped in hydropower tunnels after devastating floods on the Nepal-Tibet border killed over 1,000 people. More than 600 workers remain missing in mud-filled tunnels, with survivors describing harrowing escapes as water and debris rushed through the darkness.
Politicians across the US are shifting from championing data centers to restricting them as public opposition mounts over energy consumption and infrastructure strain. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott halted new approvals less than a year after celebrating a $40 billion Google investment, while Virginia's Loudoun County begins reining in development despite hosting over 250 data centers.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has issued a permit for Enbridge Energy's controversial Line 5 tunnel project beneath Michigan's Straits of Mackinac, determining it is 'not contrary to the public interest.' The decision marks a significant milestone for the long-debated infrastructure project.
The Michigan Supreme Court ruled 6-1 that state regulators failed to adequately review environmental impacts when approving a permit for Enbridge's proposed tunnel to house the Line 5 petroleum pipeline beneath the Great Lakes. The court ordered the Michigan Public Service Commission to conduct a more comprehensive assessment.
Research published in Nature Cities finds that contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of US data centers are situated in urban areas, driven by existing infrastructure and fossil fuel industrial legacy. The findings emerge amid growing local debates over data center restrictions in states like Florida and Wisconsin.
A U.S. appeals court found Canadian energy company Enbridge liable for trespass for operating a pipeline under land belonging to a northern Wisconsin tribe. The court ordered the pipeline to be rerouted and damages to be recalculated, while granting the company additional time to complete the relocation.
Meta's Hyperion AI supercluster in Richland Parish, Louisiana is expanding to 5 gigawatts of compute capacity, bringing total investment to over $50 billion. Local impacts include $1.6 billion in business contracts, teacher bonuses topping $50,000, and full scholarships for high school graduates starting in 2026.
A severe heatwave gripping Western Europe has caused at least 212 excess deaths in Spain since Sunday, with the UK and Switzerland recording their hottest-ever June temperatures. At least 101 million Europeans are affected by the extreme heat, which has also caused power outages and health emergencies across multiple countries.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued orders Thursday directing six major grid operators to expedite connection of AI data centers and large electricity users to transmission systems, marking a significant policy shift to address power infrastructure bottlenecks.
OpenAI is negotiating to lease a proposed 10-gigawatt data center campus on federal land in southern Ohio, with the deal potentially including financial backing from Nvidia. The project could cost at least $500 billion.