Majority of NJ residents want AI projects banned

The majority of N.J. voters don’t want data centers in their towns, poll finds

By Zach Blackburn, NJ Globe, May 05 2026 5:02 pm

New Jersey voters want to see their local officials block data centers from being fabricated in their towns, a poll from the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University found. 

A majority of registered voters, 56%, said they would support an attempt from their local town to ban data centers, while 22% said they would oppose such a measure. And more than 80% said they would support state measures requiring stricter energy standards for data centers and requiring large facilities to construct their own new electricity sources.

The proliferation of data centers has led to a reckoning in New Jersey politics, as residents across the state push their local elected officials to stifle the construction of new facilities. Councilmen, legislators, and experts are still debating the path forward, seeking to balance the economic and technological benefits of such centers while also ensuring the plants don’t further drive up energy prices or disrupt the way of life in quiet towns. 

The poll also offered New Jerseyans the chance to choose among three paths for data center development: encourage development with strict regulations on energy use and environmental impacts, encourage development with fewer such regulations, or discourage data center development altogether. The poll found 46% backed the first option and 35% backed the third option; just 12% want to encourage data center development with few regulations.

“The findings highlight the challenge facing policymakers as they try to balance economic growth tied to AI infrastructure with growing public concern about costs, environmental sustainability, and local community impact,” said Alyssa Maurice, Hughes Center assistant director.

A touch more than three-quarters of those polled said they are either very or somewhat concerned about the environmental effects of data centers.

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Republic Services planning major increase in organics processing

Spurred by regulations and customer enthusiasm, the waste hauler is expanding its operations in California and Colorado.

By Jacob Wallace, Waste Dive

Republic Services is preparing to open an organic-waste transfer station this week at a ceremony in Petaluma, California. The Sonoma County site is the latest addition to Republic’s portfolio of organic waste infrastructure, which is growing in response to regulatory pressure and customer interest.

This year, the company plans to add 355,000 tons of annual organic-waste processing capacity through development projects. That would add significant volume to the 1.1 million tons of processing capacity the company reported in 2025.

The company has already made progress at multiple sites. In April, it opened an organic waste transfer station near Denver. The 11,900-square-foot facility is located at Republic’s Foothills Landfill on the west side of Denver, and will preprocess organic waste before transferring it across town to Republic’s East Regional Landfill Compost Facility for processing.

The project received support from the Colorado Circular Communities Enterprise, run by a state agency. It goes online as Denver implements its Waste No More ordinance, which requires multifamily buildings and food-waste generators to provide organic-waste collection services. The ordinance has already prompted M&A in the compost services market led by Laurel Mountain Partners.

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Amazon-Backed X-Energy Pulls Off $1B Nuclear IPO

AI Power Race Heats Up

Amazon-Backed X-Energy Pulls Off $1B Nuclear IPO as AI Power Race Heats Up

X-Energy, a U.S. nuclear reactor developer backed by Amazon, has raised $1.02 billion in one of the biggest nuclear energy public offerings in recent years. The company sold about 44.3 million shares at $23 each, above its original target range of $16 to $19 per share. The stock began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker XE.

By Jennifer L., Carbon Credits.com

Investor demand was strong. Reports said the IPO was heavily oversubscribed, reflecting growing interest in nuclear energy amid a sharp rise in electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence (AI).

After trading began, X-Energy’s valuation climbed close to $12 billion. Its stock also surged in its Nasdaq debut, jumping about 27% above its $23 IPO price to around $29 per share.

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The IPO also marked a major turnaround for the company. In 2023, X-Energy canceled a planned SPAC merger because of weak market conditions. Less than three years later, the same company returned to public markets with much stronger investor support.

The shift reflects a larger change in global energy markets. AI growth is driving massive new electricity demand, and many technology companies are now seeking stable, carbon-free power sources.

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America’s aging dams need a refresh

GettyImages-2095055788

America’s hydropower systems are in hot water — but the federal government may soon unclog a stream of funding to help them out.


By Katherine Krawczyk, Canary Media

We’ve been using water to generate electricity in the U.S. since the 1880s, expanding from projects harvesting Niagara Falls for power to a whole network of systems that span the rivers of the West. America’s dams have since become a reliable, round-the-clock source of clean energy, generating nearly 6% of the nation’s power in 2025 even as drought in the West limited many projects’ capacity.

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That long history is exactly why hydroelectricity is now in trouble. Hundreds of dams across the U.S. representing nearly 16 GW of capacity will have to be relicensed by the federal government in the coming years, as Alexander C. Kaufman previously reported for Canary Media. But the average dam in the U.S. is 65 years old, and many were built without the infrastructure they’d need to be licensed today, like passages for fish and other wildlife. Many operators will have to choose between spending millions of dollars on infrastructure upgrades or simply shutting down — and some are already choosing the latter.

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House strikes pesticide language from farm bill

The vote notched a major win for the MAHA movement on their highest-profile agriculture priority.

By Grace Yarrow and Rachel Shin, Politico

The House voted 280-142 to remove controversial pesticide-labeling language from the farm bill Thursday morning after a revolt by Make America Healthy Again activists.

The vote is a major win for MAHA-aligned Republicans and Democrats who argued that the provisions would protect pesticide makers that have faced hundreds of thousands of lawsuits from plaintiffs alleging they weren’t informed about health risks associated with the products.

Rep. Anna Palina (R-Fl)

The amendment, led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), was the subject of contention within the GOP after she threatened to “BLOW UP the farm bill” over the issue. House Agriculture Chair G.T. Thompson (R-Pa.) and other Republicans pressured GOP colleagues to reject Luna’s move.

“It would prevent frivolous lawsuits if it’s in compliance with the science that the EPA has put forward,” Thompson told POLITICO. “I think this is a tool that’s really important for food affordability, because these are tools are important for yield, to be able to feed the nation, feed the world.”

Six Democrats voted to keep the pesticide language: Reps. Sanford Bishop (Ga.), Henry Cuellar (Texas), Don Davis (N.C.), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), Adam Gray (Calif.) and Hank Johnson (Ga.).

And 73 Republicans voted with Luna to deliver MAHA a victory in an ongoing fight over pesticide use.

Luna said during the debate that she’d faced fierce opposition from her own party, saying on the House floor Wednesday night that one of her colleagues called her a “damn liar.”

“I never thought I’d have to be debating liability protections for pesticide companies,” Luna said. “Yet here I am today.”

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Supreme Court gives Bayer a mixed reception on Roundup herbicide


By Greg Stohrm, Bloomberg News

The US Supreme Court gave Bayer AG a mixed reception on its bid to stop tens of thousands of lawsuits claiming its Roundup herbicide should have been labeled as a cancer risk.

Hearing arguments in Washington on Monday, the justices weighed a $1.25 million jury verdict won by a Missouri man who blamed Roundup for his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The company contends that because US regulators didn’t require a cancer warning, federal law bars the Missouri suit and similar suits.

Bayer drew supportive comments from Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who questioned whether lawsuits alleging a failure to warn could be squared with a provision in federal law requiring “uniformity” in herbicide labels. But Chief Justice John Roberts suggested that states considering new evidence that a product is risky should be allowed to “call this danger to the attention of the people.”

Bayer shares slumped as much as 6.5% in early trading on Tuesday in Frankfurt. The stock had gained 67% over the past year through Monday’s close on optimism about containing the Roundup fallout and progress in its pharmaceutical pipeline.

Bank of America Corp. analysts, including Sachin Jain, said the hearing was less clear-cut in Bayer’s favor than expected. They cited feedback from a call with a legal expert, who still expects the ruling to favor Bayer with 70% probability.

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