On Tuesday, 9th March, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) issued an air permit allowing Elon Musk’s xAI to operate tons of gas turbines at its facility in Southaven, Mississippi. The permit board’s decision comes weeks after community members held a hearing to share concerns about xAI’s potential health effects, according to a press statement. Internal documents from MDEQ and EPA indicate that the agency faced intense pressure to approve xAI’s air permit swiftly. “We are outraged that, despite the community’s clear demand to move the Election Day hearing,
Nigerian mobility financing company MAX has raised $24 million in a mix of equity and debt after reaching profitability in Nigeria, its largest market, multiple reports confirm. The funding signals renewed investor interest in electric mobility across Africa, where rising fuel prices and falling battery costs are making electric two- and three-wheelers increasingly attractive for commercial drivers. The round includes equity from Equitane DMCC, Novastar, Endeavor Catalyst, and other global investors, alongside asset-backed debt from the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund and development finance institutions. Profitability Brings Investors Back Founded in 2015 as Metro
Apple is undergoing its biggest leadership upheaval since the death of cofounder Steve Jobs, as a cluster of top executives head for the exits. Among them is Lisa Jackson, the company’s vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, and one of the most visible Black women in Silicon Valley. On December 4, Apple announced that Jackson will retire in late January 2026, marking the end of more than a decade at Apple, which helped shape the company’s climate agenda and its public commitments to racial equity. Lisa Jackson’s Departure Apple will not replace Jackson with a
When Hurricane Melissa tore through Jamaica with 195 mph winds on October 28, it claimed dozens of lives, knocked out electricity, and disrupted water supplies for half a million people. But in Accompong, a remote Maroon community in the mountains of Cockpit Country, clean water has continued to flow thanks to a solar-powered atmospheric water generator. A Solar-Powered Atmospheric Water Generator As the Category 5 storm collapsed power grids and water systems across the island, Accompong’s self-sustaining water generator continued pulling humidity from the air and turning it into nearly 400 gallons of clean, drinkable water each
An Indigenous group in the Brazilian state of Ceará is taking TikTok to court over its planned data center, according to Rest of World. The Anacé has claimed the area where TikTok and Casa dos Ventos, a wind energy company that will power the data center, are to be built. Leaders of the community say their right to consultation was violated, and their concerns about water consumption related to this project were ignored. Indigenous communities must be consulted before construction on their land as part of the permit process. However,
Atlanta-based Southface Institute has partnered with the Sustain Our Future Foundation on Building Improvement Toolkits (BIT) for Resilient HBCU, an initiative aiming to advance sustainability efforts within five historically Black colleges and universities. What will the initiative include? Each participating HBCU will receive $150,000 in grants to help each school reach its sustainability goals, as well as for workforce development, training, and hosting 25 paid student fellows, according to Atlanta Business Chronicle. An essential part of the initiative is an online platform, serving as a central hub for tracking performance
Join our Patreon for extra-long episodes and ad-free content. Techish is taking a short summer break, but we’ll be back in September! In the meantime, we’ve got a fantastic episode to share from our friends over at the IRL Podcast. You might remember we had IRL host Bridget Todd on Techish recently for our Falling in Love With Your AI episode. So trust us, you’re gonna love this one. ———————————————————— Decoding the Planet: From Whales to Whistleblowers From season eight of the IRL podcast: AI and Us. AI may be able to talk
The NAACP and other civil rights groups have filed an appeal against a permit that would allow Elon Musk’s xAI to use gas turbines to power its massive data center. The complaint was filed by The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) on behalf of the NAACP and the youth-led group Young, Gifted & Green. The NAACP appealing a permit against xAI After xAI began operating in Memphis in 2024, the startup stated that the turbines at the data center were temporary and small enough not to require permits. But, residents living near
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), representing the NAACP, has sent a 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue to Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, over its unpermitted use of gas turbines at a data center in South Memphis. The letter, dated June 17, alleges that xAI violated federal law by installing dozens of methane gas turbines without the required permits or pollution controls. This notice is a necessary step before filing a lawsuit under the Clean Air Act. “Over the last year, these turbines have pumped out pollution that threatens
Nigerian startup Salpha Energy has raised $1.3 million in funding from All On, an impact investment firm supported by Shell. Salpha Energy is the only female-founded startup that runs a solar home system assembly facility in sub-Saharan Africa, according to Distrupt Africa. The company is dedicated to providing affordable and reliable solar power to underserved communities across Africa. Having local manufacturing capacity enables the company to manage product quality and design more effectively, while also generating employment opportunities in the area. $1.3 million funding from All On The fund will be
