4 ms·

Sorry, Brit here, I'm confused. Why is the plaintiff here the NAACP?

by b800h 3mo ago

nerdsniper 3mo ago
We are confused here too. Really could be any large enough group I suppose as long as it contains a lot of members living near the turbines. I suspect because these data centers are usually placed in areas where land and labor are very cheap, which in some/many states are predominantly black(er) areas. Really though, the USA has been chipping away at the ability for groups like these to show “standing” so its mildly impressive that this case got this far.
MallocVoidstar 3mo ago
Memphis is majority black
toomim 3mo ago
Because tribalism. NAACP is lefty, and Musk is righty. So they fight.
- watwut 3mo ago
  You need to have a "standing" to be even allowed to fight in court. The question was completely valid legal question - why they have the legal standing.
Terr_ 3mo ago
IANAL, but: 1. It seems the plaintiff is the Southern Environmental Law Center, which makes a lot more sense when the issue is violations of environmental law. The NAACP is supporting, and I can imagine that there are some consistent overlaps between what the two groups are concerned with, given that where people pollute in the south correlates to where certain ethnicities can afford (or were allowed) to buy property and live. 2. Certain laws (in this case probably the Clean Air Act) creates a category of "citizen suits", or "private right of action". While that doesn't totally eliminate "I am harmed" standing, it does means you don't need to "the one whose laws were harmed." In other words, it means you can sue for a violation of federal law instead of being stuck waiting for the federal Department of Justice to care.
sometimelurker 3mo ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_racism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_racism, probably. I think the Flint Michigan water crisis falls into this category but feel free to correct me

Sorry, Brit here, I'm confused. Why is the plaintiff here the NAACP?

by b800h 3mo ago

Sorry, Brit here, I'm confused. Why is the plaintiff here the NAACP?

We are confused here too. Really could be any large enough group I suppose as long as it contains a lot of members living near the turbines. I suspect because these data centers are usually placed in areas where land and labor are very cheap, which in some/many states are predominantly black(er) areas. Really though, the USA has been chipping away at the ability for groups like these to show “standing” so its mildly impressive that this case got this far.

MallocVoidstar 3mo ago

Memphis is majority black

toomim 3mo ago

Because tribalism. NAACP is lefty, and Musk is righty. So they fight.

watwut 3mo ago
You need to have a "standing" to be even allowed to fight in court. The question was completely valid legal question - why they have the legal standing.

Terr_ 3mo ago

IANAL, but: 1. It seems the plaintiff is the Southern Environmental Law Center, which makes a lot more sense when the issue is violations of environmental law. The NAACP is supporting, and I can imagine that there are some consistent overlaps between what the two groups are concerned with, given that where people pollute in the south correlates to where certain ethnicities can afford (or were allowed) to buy property and live. 2. Certain laws (in this case probably the Clean Air Act) creates a category of "citizen suits", or "private right of action". While that doesn't totally eliminate "I am harmed" standing, it does means you don't need to "the one whose laws were harmed." In other words, it means you can sue for a violation of federal law instead of being stuck waiting for the federal Department of Justice to care.

sometimelurker 3mo ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_racism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_racism, probably. I think the Flint Michigan water crisis falls into this category but feel free to correct me