Judge allows NAACP lawsuit over xAI data center pollution to move forward

A federal judge has rejected xAI’s bid to throw out a lawsuit brought by the NAACP over the gas turbines that power its Colossus data center outside Memphis. The ruling means the case, filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center on the NAACP’s behalf, will proceed. The suit accuses the SpaceX-owned AI company of violating the Clean Air Act.

The Southern Environmental Law Center alleges that xAI installed and ran at least 35 combustion turbines and other sources of air pollution at the Colossus site without ever securing the required preconstruction or operating air permits. xAI had asked the court to dismiss the case on two grounds: that the turbines are exempt from permitting because they are mobile, and that the plaintiffs lacked standing to sue.

Judge Debra M. Brown ruled against both arguments. She wrote that the plaintiffs have statutory standing under the Clean Air Act and that the combustion turbines do not qualify as mobile sources under Mississippi’s State Implementation Plan. She also rejected xAI’s claim that the citizen suit provision violates Article II of the Constitution or the private nondelegation doctrine.

On the constitutional question, Judge Brown reasoned that citizen suit plaintiffs sue on their own behalf, in their own name, and seek penalties that redress harm to themselves, so they are not exercising the federal government’s executive power.

Abre’ Connor, the NAACP’s director of environmental and climate justice, called the decision another important victory in the effort to hold xAI accountable. She said the courts have repeatedly turned back attempts by xAI and the Department of Justice to dismiss the NAACP’s Clean Air Act case, affirming the right to pursue justice for communities affected by pollution. She added that the NAACP’s position is clear: xAI cannot operate gas turbines without the required permits. A similar motion to dismiss from the Department of Justice was denied earlier in the month.

The case is advancing as public sentiment toward data centers has shifted sharply. New York recently passed a moratorium on new data centers, and other state and local governments are weighing similar measures. The backlash also led Amazon and Microsoft to promise to stop using NDAs in their dealings with government agencies, and it could be a significant factor in the imminent U.S. midterm elections.

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