Hello Mobile Environmental Justice Champions!

Keep reading below for upcoming community events and important news!!

Please save the date for the next Mobile Environmental Justice Action Coalition Community Meeting:

Monday, August 10, 2026
5-7pm
VIRTUAL MEETING

Credentials will be shared in a reminder email sent on the morning of our next meeting.

SIGN UP for to receive this newsletter to your email inbox, and you’ll also receive our virtual meeting credentials!

Click “Continue Reading” to See the Whole Newsletter!

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MORE 2026 ELECTIONS ARE COMING UP!

‼️Despite the racist chaos that has played out in Montgomery this year, our Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen has ruled that the election calendar will proceed as planned. Check out the important dates below and TUNE IN if you care about your rights!

🗳️ Check your voter registration status: myinfo.alabamavotes.gov/voterview/
🗳️ Register to vote or update your registration: sos.alabama.gov/alabama-votes/voter/register-to-vote
🗳️ Check in with your family and friends to make sure they are both registered where they live AND have a plan to vote on election days!

You can find out more about the candidates in your districts and about how to vote here: www.vote.org ‼️

ARE YOU AWARE that local, Mobile-area civil rights organizing is critical to how the Voting Rights Act was implemented nationwide? 👀 Google “Mobile v Bolden” to learn more about the contributions to the legal protections that we ALL enjoy by those who came before us.

ABOUT THE AUGUST 11, 2026 ELECTION:

‼️If you live in Congressional District 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 7, there will be NO Democratic Primary in August (the contests only have one Democratic candidate). If you live in Congressional District 1, 2, or 7, there will be a Republican Primary for Congress. All CAN vote in the Republican primary if they wish. This is not considered “crossover voting” and you will not miss an opportunity to vote for any Democrats.

This August 11 election is to decide who will appear on the ballot for the November 3, 2026 General Election. No other local or statewide items will appear on the August 11 ballots.

The Republican Primary U.S. House Alabama District 1 will feature Lucas Burger, Jerry Carl, Austin Sidwell, and John Mills.

The Democratic candidate for U.S. House Alabama District 1 is Clyde Jones.

This is what the August 11 and November 3 Alabama Election Map for US Congressional Representation looks like after the racist changes that the Alabama legislature enacted and the US Supreme Court upheld:RECURRING MONTHLY EVENTS

2nd and 4th Tuesdays and Saturdays of every month – The Africatown Food Bank distributes free food aid boxes on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays and Saturdays of every month. Volunteers to help load and distribute boxes are always welcome! Contact Rochelle Williams (plateaupacers@gmail.com) or Daphnee Frieson (daphnee.frieson@icloud.com) let them know your interest!

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All month long, Tuesdays thru Saturdays, 10am-5pm – The incredible Africatown Heritage House is open to the public and is FREE to all Mobile County residents. If you haven’t already visited, please do take the time to walk through the spellbinding exhibit space and experience the power of Africatown’s history, past and present in the form of “Clotilda: The Exhibition at the Africatown Heritage House”.

This month’s Heritage Lecture Series speaker will be a panel discussion about the legacy of integration on the Africatown community.

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Tuesday, August 18, 5pm – The Africatown Redevelopment Corporation (ARC) conducts its monthly board meeting publicly at Africatown Hall (2201 Papermill Road) on the third Tuesday of every month at 5pm. For more info about the ARC: https://www.atownrc.com/

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Wednesday, August 19 – Mobile United hosts a Mobile Green Drinks “monthly happy hour for environmentally thoughtful folks” 2026 meetup series at Braided River Brewing Company, 420 St. Louis Street, Mobile, AL 36602.

August’s presenter will share about the Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network.

Networking begins @ 5 p.m.
5:45-6:15 – presentation and Q & A with the presenter
6:15-6:30- Learn about the loads of upcoming environmental action opportunities around Mobile
7:00 – Stay for trivia fun or not!
For more info about Mobile United: https://www.mobileunited.org/

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Sunday, August 24, 4pm – The Mobile NAACP will conduct its General Membership meeting in person at Truevine Missionary Baptist Church, 1850 Dr Martin Luther King Jr Ave, Mobile, AL 36617. The mission of the NAACP is to achieve equity, political rights, and social inclusion by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, eliminate discrimination, and accelerate the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color.

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ONGOING – “The Africatown Experience Boat Tour” unveils the remarkable story of the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to bring enslaved Africans to the United States, by taking participants directly to the site of the scuttled ship at Twelve Mile Island in the Mobile Delta.

Private group reservations are available, contact Chiquitta Howard with Africatown Freedom Tours at 251.374.6767. This is more than a sightseeing tour—it’s a chance to reflect on history, honor the past, and celebrate the enduring spirit of a community.

For more information, including other future dates and to reserve your spot, visit: Blakeleypark.com/:

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ONGOING (First Saturday of every month at 9am) – Despite federal funding cuts, the STEMMing The Tide / AL-YASS program will continue as a monthly Professional Development Series for Alabama Educators, including those in the Mobile County Public School System!

Alabama educators are invited to join STEMMing The Tide and AL-YASS (Alabama Youth Action for Sustainability Summit) for a monthly professional development series focused on helping teachers embed citizen science into their classrooms and connect students with real-world environmental research. These sessions will provide practical classroom ideas, resources, and opportunities to connect with community partners along the coast and across Alabama!

We will meet virtually on the first Saturday of each month at 9:00 a.m. via Zoom starting in September.

To stay connected or learn more, please reach out to klanier@uab.edu or AlabamaYAS@gmail.com. You can also visit the STEMMing The Tide website at https://stemmingthetide.weebly.com/.

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UPCOMING SPECIAL EVENTS
& UNIQUE OPPORTUNITIES

Thursday, August 6, 5:30-6:45pm – The Africatown Plateau Pacers will host a back to school giveaway starting at 5:30pm at the Robert Hope Community Center, 850 Edwards St, Mobile, AL 36610. In addition to a filled school bag, there will be free haircuts provided for students and personal hygiene items.

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RFQs due August 9, 2026 – From The Clotilda Memorial team: “The Alabama Historical Commission has launched a national call for a memorial honoring the last known African captives trafficked to the United States through the transatlantic slave trade: the 110 individuals forced aboard the Clotilda. This project represents a significant cultural investment in public memory by honoring the enduring legacies of those who experienced displacement, enslavement, and discrimination.

The selected artist or artist team will be tasked with creating a work that reflects the depth, resilience, and generational impact of the Clotilda survivors, while establishing a lasting public installation for reflection, education, and collective healing.

We ask that you share this opportunity with artists and organizations within your network who are equipped to engage work of this historical and cultural magnitude.

The Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is available here:
https://TheClotildaMemorial.info/call-for-artists/

Submissions are due August 9, 2026, and applications may be completed and submitted here. Finalists will advance to a Request for Proposals (RFP) phase and will receive a $2,000 honorarium to develop a proposal. The total project budget is $2,000,000.

The memorial will be developed through a collaborative process with descendants of the Clotilda survivors, residents of Africatown, and the connected diasporic communities. This will ensure the final work is grounded in lived experience, nuanced understanding of history, and community voice.”

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Deadline to Submit Public Comment: End of August, 2026 – Weigh In on Alabama’s 2026 Statewide Transportation Plan

ALDOT is accepting public comments on its 2026 Statewide Transportation Plan, which is a rare direct-input opportunity for residents across the state on transportation priorities for highways, freight, transit, safety, and bicycle-and-pedestrian infrastructure. Given the transportation issues we face: the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Projects, mud-dumping-in-Mobile-Bay dredging, the Africatown pedestrian access concerns tied to regional transportation patterns, how dangerous it is for our kids to walk and bike to school, and our persistent mass transit funding shortfalls, this is the channel to get those perspectives into the state’s official planning record.

Submit comments online through the ALDOT Statewide Transportation Plan page, by email to ALDOTStatewidePlanning@dot.state.al.us, or by mail to the ALDOT Office Engineer Bureau, 1409 Coliseum Boulevard, Montgomery, AL 36110.

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Sunday, September 6, 2026 – The Africatown Community Teach & Outreach NPO is hosting its 11th annual Africatown Community Day from 1-6pm on Sunday, September 6 at the Robert Hope Community Center, 850 Edwards St, Mobile, AL 36610. This free community event features performances from local artists, kids activities, a baking contest, free food and beverages and snacks, and room to BYOBBQ and camp out for the day with the community! Those interested in tax-deductible donations to support the fun day can contact Director Lamar Howard, (251) 374-6767.

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Reimbursement Deadline: September 30, 2026 – Is Your Home Rain Ready? You can get reimbursed for Rain Barrels & Rain Gardens in Alabama. Auburn University’s Ginn School of Engineering, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the City of Mobile, and Naturally Mobile have partnered on Rain Ready Alabama, a rebate program that reimburses Alabama residents and businesses for installing rain barrels or creating rain gardens on their property. Simple stormwater upgrades like these can keep polluted runoff out of Mobile Bay and its tributaries, ease pressure on Mobile’s overburdened sewer system, and build household-level resilience against the heavy rains we see year-round. Applying is a three-step process: check your eligibility online, fill out the application, then submit receipts through the reimbursement form after you buy or build. Learn more and apply at rainready.auburn.edu.***

ONGOING – Disaster Preparedness Survey — Help Shape Mobile’s Resilience Planning

The Community Foundation of South Alabama and the University of South Alabama are conducting a Disaster Preparedness Survey of Mobile residents to identify the strengths and needs of our community’s disaster response and to inform new resilience initiatives for the City of Mobile. Given the flooding, hurricane, and industrial-hazard exposures that environmental justice communities know first hand, resident input is exactly what researchers need to make the resulting plans reflect frontline realities rather than agency assumptions.

To participate, scan the QR code on the survey flyer or follow this link. Participants will enter a monthly drawing for a $200 gift card. Questions about your rights as a research participant can be directed to the USA Institutional Review Board at 251-460-6308 (or toll-free 866-511-6509), or by email at ahotard@southalabama.edu.

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FEATURED NEWS STORIES:

📚 05/26/26, MEJACoalition.org – Doing it Differently: Hard Earned Lessons from Engaging with a Proposed AI Data Center on the Africatown side of Prichard – This is a deep dive into the proposed AI Data Center on the Africatown side of Prichard presented by MEJAC after many, many hours of deliberations, Africatown community consultation, and an actual tour of the company’s other data centers in Atlanta.

📚 05/26/26 – Fox10TV.com – Alabama Port Authority says it is not pushing to remove tunnels under Mobile River – “In response to questions from FOX10 News, port spokesman Jason Johnson released a statement: “We appreciate Congressman Figures’ continued efforts to support infrastructure improvements at the Port of Mobile. At this time, we are not aware of any plans to remove the George Wallace Tunnel or the Bankhead Tunnel.”

📚 06/12/26 – InsideClimateNews.org – Trump’s EPA Unlawfully Cancelled Environmental Justice Grants, Judge Rules – “The decision voided the EPA guidance to terminate the $2.8 billion grant program. But it stopped short of requiring the agency to resume administering it.”

📚 06/12/26 – AL.com – South Alabama residents loudly reject proposed data center: ‘Community has spoken’ – “Another south Alabama community is saying no to a new data center. On Thursday, representatives with Edged Energy, a data technology company, held a town hall with residents and Prichard’s leadership to discuss a proposed data center in the city. Around 200 people attended the meeting, despite no air conditioning in the Prichard City Hall auditorium. And the heat almost certainly did not help calm residents who are fiercely opposed to the data center. “It’s hot, and people are irritated,” said Ramsey Sprague, president of the Mobile Environmental Justice Action Coalition, who attended the meeting. “It’s hard to absorb new information when people are yelling and shouting.”

📚 06/18/26 – InsideClimateNews.org – Alabama Limestone Quarry Reaches Settlement – “Residents of the small north Alabama community of Belle Mina are breathing easier after reaching a settlement with a limestone quarry they say was disrupting their homes and places of worship. Three Belle Mina residents and four churches located near the quarry filed a lawsuit against the operators of the Stoned LLC limestone quarry in 2024, alleging that the quarry’s dust, noise, blasting and truck traffic were interfering with their ability to enjoy their property or to keep congregants coming to their churches. The plaintiffs, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, had initially sought an injunction to close the quarry entirely. Barry Brock, director of SELC’s Alabama office, said in a news release that the compromise was a good one. “While we sought to stop the quarry, the judge concluded that the law required a middle ground,” Brock said. “This is the best outcome for our clients and mitigates very serious long-term impacts on the community.”

THE LATEST NEWS STORIES:

📚 07/06/26 – AlabamaReflector.com – Spending in Alabama primary elections exceeds $40 million – “Alabama politicians spent over $40 million during the 2026 primary and primary runoffs for state and federal offices. . . “I think what we have is a situation where Republicans nationally are very vulnerable, and because of historic low approval rates of President Trump, and so that always affects midterm elections, and there are a number of indicators in other states that this is going to be a very bad midterm for Republicans,” [Richard Fording, a political science professor at The University of Alabama] said.”

📚 07/06/26 – AlabamaReflector.com – Do data centers impact our physical health? Studies are few and far between – Emerging research on the physical health impacts of data centers remains sparse, even as communities across the country raise concerns about air, water, and noise pollution.

📚 07/06/26 – VirginiaMercury.com – How Virginia became the world’s data center capital, and how it’s going – A retrospective on how Virginia became the world’s largest data-center hub — and the growing regulatory, ratepayer, and community pushback that has followed.

📚 07/07/26 – WVUA23.com – New report says Alabama could create more than 2,500 jobs by investing in public transit – A new Alabama Arise / Institute for Policy Studies report (“Alternate Route”) finds a $25M state investment in public transit could generate $100M in federal funding and 2,500+ jobs, addressing Alabama’s transportation-driven workforce-participation gap.

📚 07/08/26 – AL.com – Africatown celebrations honor Clotilda survivors, community they founded – “This year’s events include some familiar ones – notably the Spirit of Our Ancestors community festival on Friday and the Africatown Landing Ceremony on Saturday — and some new ones. Presenting organizations include the Clotilda Descendants Association, the Africatown Heritage Preservation Foundation and others.
While some of the events are designed specifically for members of the presenting organizations or for descendants of the survivors of the slave ship Clotilda, others are open to the public.”

📚 07/09/26 – Fox10TV.com – Clotilda descendants gather in Africatown for LEAF Weekend – Descendants of the Clotilda survivors gathered in Africatown for the annual LEAF (Land Event and Ancestor Festival) Weekend of cultural events and community programming.

📚 07/09/26 – Fox10TV.com – Newest Mobile River Bridge plan excludes Bayway, envisions higher tolls – The newest plan for the Mobile River Bridge project excludes the Bayway component and envisions higher tolls for drivers.

📚 07/10/26 – Fox10TV.com – Spirit of Our Ancestors Festival draws descendants of Clotilda survivors to Africatown – The Spirit of Our Ancestors Festival brought descendants of the Clotilda survivors and community members together in Africatown for cultural remembrance and celebration.

📚 07/10/26 – InsideClimateNews.org – NC plastic recycling plant shutters after mishandling hazardous waste – A North Carolina plastic recycling plant shut down after regulators found it had mishandled hazardous waste, a warning for other Southeast petrochemical-corridor facilities.

📚 07/11/26 – AL.com – Lewis Landing Park opens near Africatown honoring Clotilda legacy – “For Lorna Gail Wood, a descendant of Charlie Lewis, a Clotilda survivor and Africatown founder, a first-time celebration at a brand new waterfront park was an occasion to get in touch with some old truths.
“I just look at things today, and we live so fast,” she said. “And we eat so fast you don’t take the time to taste the food and taste what we have.”
Lewis Landing, a new Mobile County Park, quietly opened this year on Conception Street Road north of downtown Mobile. It provides access to Three Mile Creek, with features that include pavilions, a kayak launch and fishing piers.
More importantly, as Wood made clear, it is just a stone’s throw from Lewis Quarters, an Africatown neighborhood named for Charlie Lewis and his descendants. In that community, she said, people knew how to treasure what they had, and how to preserve their traditional values.”

📚 07/12/26 – AL.com – Mississippi and Alabama want to restore island to create more shrimp, crab habitat – Mississippi and Alabama are jointly pursuing a Gulf island restoration to expand shrimp and crab habitat, a rare regional wildlife-restoration collaboration.

📚 07/13/26 – InsideClimateNews.org – Alabama data center non-disclosure agreements raise transparency concerns – “After months of resistance, officials in a historic suburb of Birmingham have released a non-disclosure agreement between city leaders and developers of a hyperscale data center.
The release of the agreement came after environmental groups threatened to sue Bessemer over its unwillingness to share public documents related to the proposed construction of a 4.5 million-square-foot hyperscale data center on the rural southwest edge of the city of 25,000.
The text of the non-disclosure agreement, originally effective in February 2025 and amended in February 2026, prohibits “the City of Bessemer” from publicly releasing information related to Project Marvel in any of six categories, including information about the project’s developers, site plans, and reports or studies or any “other information that would reasonably be considered non-public.”

📚 07/14/26 – AlabamaReflector.com – Tuberville residency challenge appealed to Alabama Supreme Court – The lawsuit challenging Tommy Tuberville’s Alabama residency was appealed to the Alabama Supreme Court following a Montgomery judge’s dismissal.

📚 07/14/26 – WKRG.com – Mobile student receives two state recognitions on Clotilda documentary – “A Mobile teenager recognized for a documentary she made on the Clotilda, the last known slave ship to arrive in the U.S.
New details in Mobile hostage incident
A 13-year-old ahead of her time: she’s an entrepreneur, Mobile ballet dancer, and now an award-winning documentary filmmaker. . .
She titled the documentary “Voyage of the Clotilda — Ocean of Tears.”
“I had put my whole work into it by adding pictures, because pictures are kind of hard finding in the cultural custom culture that’s not really talked about as much,” Williams said. “So I have to like, be really careful my research and make sure my research was correct.“
Cassie went on to receive not one, but two major state recognitions.
She placed 1st in regionals and 2nd in Alabama for the competition.
That qualified her to compete in National History Day in Washington, D.C.
Cassie’s documentary was also shown at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.”

📚 07/15/26 – AlabamaReflector.com – New York governor orders first statewide data center moratorium – New York’s governor ordered the nation’s first statewide data-center moratorium, setting a precedent as Alabama debates its own approach.

📚 07/15/26 – GeorgiaRecorder.com – Researchers launch Georgia’s first Superfund Research Center – “Everything from that chemical plant has flowed into our community,” [Brunswick resident Semona Holmes] said.
Scientists want to get a better handle on what, exactly, has flowed into this community’s air, soil, water, and people. Researchers from six universities are launching Georgia’s first Superfund research center, with $15 million in funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences over five years. The team made up of scientists from Emory University, the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Morehouse School of Medicine, Spelman College, and Texas Tech University will look at Glynn County’s four toxic Superfund sites, including the one near Holmes.
The work has two main goals, according to Emory public health professor Noah Scovronick.
“One is to understand the health effects of past chemical exposures, and the other is to try and reduce people’s future exposures,” he said.”

📚 07/16/26 – TennesseeLookout.com – EPA administrator calls statewide data center moratorium a ‘cop-out’ – EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin dismissed statewide data-center moratoriums as a “cop-out,” drawing pushback from state officials and community groups.

📚 07/16/26 – AL.com – Trump says New York’s data center rule could be ‘cash cow’ for Alabama – President Trump said New York’s data-center moratorium could be a “cash cow” for Alabama as data-center developers look south.

📚 07/16/26 – InsideClimateNews.org – Groups push back on Trump Endangered Species Act rule – Environmental groups are challenging the Trump administration’s proposed rollback of Endangered Species Act protections, citing risks to Gulf and Southeast species.

📚 07/16/26 – ALReporter.com – Rep. Figures secures $50 million water infrastructure investment in 2026 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) – “I’m very proud that this bill will include my amendment to ban dumping thin-layer dredge material into Mobile Bay,” [Rep.] Figures said. “Dumping of this material into the Bay has been a threat to wildlife, fishing and small businesses. Through this bill, we can restore and protect one of our nation’s most vital estuaries for years to come.”
Additionally, Figures’ provisions would establish a multiyear program led by the secretary of the Army and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) to use suitable dredged material to restore and protect Mobile Bay.
WRDA would also initiate studies on water contamination affecting Mobile’s Africatown community, dredged material placement at Pinto Island and Blakeley Island, and ecosystem restoration opportunities at Big Creek Lake.”

📚 07/17/26 – WBRC.com – Alabama secures $203M to address healthcare gap affecting 200,000 residents – Alabama secured $203 million in federal funding to help close a healthcare-access gap affecting some 200,000 residents; Alabama Arise’s Jennifer Harris said “we need a healthcare system that works for all of us because all of us are in this together.”

📚 07/17/26 – AL.com – Navy chooses again to have nuclear carrier scrapped in Mobile – “In late 2024, after NorthStar and MARRS announced their plans to compete for the project, the Mobile Chamber took a stance against it. The Chamber said that “Bringing a large-scale nuclear dismantlement operation to our downtown waterfront … could harm our city’s reputation as a vibrant, growing community” and that “We believe this particular operation is incompatible with our vision for a dynamic and sustainable downtown.”
NorthStar and MARRS later became members of the Chamber. When NorthStar won the contract in 2025, the Chamber had no comment.“

📚 07/17/26 – AlabamaReflector.com – Trump EPA moves to approve Alabama coal ash program rejected by Biden administration – The Trump EPA is moving to approve Alabama’s coal ash disposal program that the Biden administration had rejected, a decision with major implications for the Alabama Power Company’s Plant Barry power plant in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.

📚 07/17/26 – AL.com – We have no authority: Mobile County commissioners say they can’t halt $6 billion data center – “Data centers are emerging nationwide as companies race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, even as residents in Mobile County worry the trend could disturb bear habitats or cause cattle to become sterile.
Those concerns — along with more conventional issues such as noise, water pollution, health impacts, lighting, and threats to rural quality of life — were brought Monday to the Mobile County Commission. But commissioners repeatedly told residents opposed to a proposed $6 billion data center in North Mobile County the same thing: there is nothing they can do.
“The county commission does not have the authority to prevent or not prevent a data center,” said Commissioner Merceria Ludgood. “We have no zoning authority at all.”

📚 07/17/26 – InsideClimateNews.org – Virginia fails to require data centers to use clean energy – Virginia legislation failed to require data centers to use clean energy, leaving the fossil-fuel-heavy grid to absorb the demand.

📚 07/19/26 – Fox10TV.com – Africatown Home Ownership Resource Event connects families with lenders – The Africatown Redevelopment Corporation’s homeownership resource event connected families with lenders, financial counselors, and housing resources.

📚 07/20/26 – AlabamaReflector.com – Alabamians are facing more debt collections lawsuits than ever, research shows – A Pew Charitable Trusts / January Advisors study finds over 108,000 debt-collection lawsuits filed in Alabama last year, a record high, up 140% since 2019, with disproportionate impacts in Black Belt counties.

📚 07/21/26 – GPB.org – US Chemical Safety Board (USCSB) releases cause of 2024 fire at BioLab in Conyers – The USCSB released its findings on the 2024 fire at the BioLab chemical facility in Conyers, Georgia — a cautionary case for other Southeast industrial regions.
“A corroded sprinkler triggered the 2024 BioLab fire in Conyers, a disaster the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) said likely would not have happened if the company had addressed years of documented corrosion and equipment failures.
In its final report released Tuesday, the CSB found that a sprinkler system component failed inside BioLab’s Plant 12 warehouse, releasing water onto chemicals used to clean pools and spas stored inside. It set off a series of reactions that produced toxic smoke containing chlorine, hydrogen chloride, bromine and other substances. Two fires followed, eventually destroying the warehouse.”

📚 07/21/26 – InsideClimateNews.org – Florida climate anxiety falls hardest on lower-income residents – A new study finds climate anxiety in Tampa Bay falls hardest on the lower-income residents already most exposed to heat, flooding and rising bills while wealthier neighbors stay buffered from threats, echoing patterns across Gulf Coast frontline communities.

📚 07/21/26 – AL.com – Terri Sewell joins effort for a data center moratorium in Congress – “U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, said Tuesday that she wants to pause the construction of large data centers around the country.
Members of Congress are trying to navigate a growing backlash to AI and data centers. Sewell has cosponsored a bill with fellow Democrats that would put a temporary moratorium on large projects and create basic rules for construction, water, energy and land use.
“I am not anti-AI, and I am certainly not anti-innovation,” Sewell said in a statement Tuesday.
“The rate at which these massive data centers are being constructed is simply outpacing our ability to establish meaningful protections for the communities that will host them.”

📚 07/21/26 – InsideClimateNews.org – EPA violated Clean Air Act soot standard – A federal court found the EPA violated the Clean Air Act’s soot (PM2.5) standard, in a ruling with implications for particulate-pollution regulations nationwide. The agency now has until early 2027 to implement the strengthened particulate matter standard and designate the areas with air pollution violating it.

📚 07/23/26 – ALReporter.com – 81,800 Alabamians dropped from SNAP as state faces potential funding crisis – More than 81,800 Alabamians have lost SNAP food assistance as the state faces a potential federal funding crisis over administrative error rates.

📚 07/24/26 – AlabamaReflector.com – Environmental groups seek to block oil and gas drilling in Conecuh National Forest – Environmental groups are seeking to block proposed oil and gas drilling in Alabama’s Conecuh National Forest, citing habitat and water-quality concerns.

📚 07/24/26 – InsideClimateNews.org – EPA ordered to release environmental justice funds – “A South Carolina federal judge this week ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to resume distributing funds designed to address environmental and health challenges in underserved communities.
In June, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel voided the Trump administration’s termination of the $2.8 billion Environmental and Climate Justice Block Grant Program. But the court ruling did not explicitly require the Environmental Protection Agency to resume distributing the block grants.
Although Gergel ruled that the government’s internal actions terminating the grants were “unlawful,” he declined to order the EPA to immediately restart the program, saying such a move would be “impractical.”
Last month, emails between the EPA and the Southern Environmental Law Center, which filed the lawsuit in partnership with the Public Rights Project, showed that government officials believed that no “specific agency action is required to comply” with Gergel’s ruling.
After reviewing additional court filings from both sides, Gergel confirmed this week that the EPA must resume distributing the grant funds. He rejected the Trump administration’s argument that his decision “required no further agency action.”
In his latest order, Gergel wrote that the Trump administration’s interpretation of the initial ruling relied on an interpretation of the facts the court had already “specifically rejected.”
“The court made it clear that EPA has to follow the law, not keep making the same arguments the court has already rejected,” Toby Merrill, the litigation director for Public Rights Project, said in an email. “When federal agencies ignore court orders, communities pay the price.”

📚 07/26/26 – AlabamaReflector.com – Will Congress ban mud dumping in Mobile Bay? – Congress considers legislation to ban the dumping of dredged mud in Mobile Bay, a long-standing environmental-justice concern for Mobile-area residents and fisheries.

📚 07/26/26 – AL.com – Mobile data center could generate $1.5 billion in sales tax revenue over 20 years – “An estimated $6 billion data center planned for north Mobile County is expected to generate roughly $1.5 billion in sales tax revenue for state and county governments over the next two decades. It also will produce nearly $100 million a year in new property tax revenue for Mobile County and its public school system.”

📚 07/26/26 – Fox10TV.com – Culture Fest 2026 brings lectures, entertainment, art to Africatown – Culture Fest 2026 brought lectures, entertainment, and art programming to Africatown, celebrating the community’s cultural heritage.

📚 07/27/26 – AlabamaReflector.com – Doug Jones calls for affordability measures, government reforms in policy speech – Former U.S. Senator Doug Jones outlined a policy platform including a data-center moratorium, Medicaid expansion, and a state lottery vote in a major speech.

📚 07/29/26 – AL.com – Multibillion-dollar Alabama data center debate intensifies; residents demand guarantees, oversight – “As utility officials argued that a planned $6 billion to $8 billion data center in northern Mobile County will not strain local power and water resources, some residents told county commissioners Tuesday that assurances alone are not enough.
Residents pressed for more information, stronger guarantees and greater oversight of the proposed Beacon Data Centers project during a public comment session at Government Plaza.
The discussion came one week after county commissioners said they have no authority to stop or regulate the project, which is being developed by the Canadian company.”

📚 07/30/26 – AL.com – Residents seek accountability, written guarantees on $6 billion data center – “As plans move forward for a $6 billion data center expected to begin construction in north Mobile County this fall, about 50 residents gathered at a community center in Mt. Vernon on Monday alongside local politicians and political candidates, seeking answers and assurances that one of South Alabama’s largest proposed developments will be built responsibly.
The gathering also brought into focus a frustration that has become central to opposition surrounding the project in unincorporated Mobile County: Why aren’t elected officials doing more to protect residents who feel they have little say over what happens next?
“They are your representatives and we elect them,” said Gena Daniels, a 20-year Mt. Vernon resident who said one of the community’s biggest concerns is that no local government body has the authority to tell Beacon Data Centers “No” or issue a moratorium to slow data center projects.”

📚 08/01/26 – AL.com – Descendants of Clotilda survivor among authors featured at Birmingham Public Library expo – “More than 30 Alabama authors will gather today at the Birmingham Public Library for the 2026 Local Authors’ Expo, offering readers the chance to meet writers, purchase books and hear from authors whose works span genres from children’s literature to historical fiction. . .
Among the authors are Birmingham sisters Deborah Sanders and Gwendolyn Sanders Gamble, who both participated as foot soldiers in the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement and are the great-granddaughters of Matilda [McCrear], who is believed to have been the youngest passenger aboard the Clotilda.“

📚 08/02/26 – AL.com – Lame-duck commission candidates question who should decide Alabama’s data center future – “As Alabama regulators consider new rules for powering data centers, a political fight is emerging over who should be overseeing those decisions.
With two Public Service Commission members headed out the door after losing their Republican primaries this year, candidates from both parties are questioning whether the current commission should be overseeing public comments and setting policies that could shape Alabama’s energy future for years.
The Alabama Public Service Commission is in the midst of a public comment period that could influence how the state oversees electrical agreements for large data centers.
But the PSC is set to look dramatically different in less than six months, with two of its three elected commissioners leaving office. A new secretary of energy will also join the state’s energy oversight structure, and at least one Republican candidate says now is not the time for major decisions on data center power contracts.
Former Alabama auditor and Republican Public Service Commission (PSC) candidate Jim Zeigler said Monday that two of the three current PSC members are “lame ducks” after losing their Republican primary races and should not be making decisions that could have long-lasting implications for an issue that has become increasingly political nationwide.”

📚 08/02/26 – AL.com – Communities shouldn’t pay the price for a railroad merger: op-ed – “Ask anyone in Trussville what a blocked railroad crossing means, and you won’t hear about freight efficiency or national logistics. You’ll hear about missed school pickups, delayed commutes, businesses cut off from customers and, most importantly, the fear that an ambulance or fire truck could lose precious minutes trying to reach someone in need. Those same concerns are shared in communities all across the state of Alabama.
That is why the proposed merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern deserves far more than a discussion about corporate efficiencies. The Surface Transportation Board is not charged with deciding whether this merger benefits two railroad companies. Rather, its responsibility is to determine whether the merger serves the public interest. For Alabama communities, that determination should begin with a focus on public safety.
Railroads are indispensable to our state’s economy. They move the raw materials, manufactured goods and agricultural products that support thousands of Alabama jobs. We should welcome a strong freight network. But we should also expect that economic progress doesn’t come at the expense of the communities through which those trains travel every day.”

📚 08/03/26 – AlabamaReflector.com – Data centers emerge as top Alabama election issue as community concerns grow – “Data centers have emerged as a top issue in Alabama’s midterm elections as concerns over public health impacts and a lack of transparency over the multibillion dollar facilities grow among communities and public health experts.
The facilities, which store digital data in servers, are not new to Alabama. There are dozens across the state, according to Data Center Map, a website that tracks the facilities across the nation. But experts and environmental advocates say the size and quantity of new artificial intelligence data centers raise significant worries.“

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