I Live 500 Feet From A Bitcoin Mine. My Life Is Hell.

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Mean-Alternative-416@reddit

Omg I had no idea. This is crazy and these people should be compensated and be able to move at the least

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Nah- they voted for their politicians - they are ok with this. Just like the flood victims in Kerr who turned down the Biden admin’s repeated attempts to fund a flood warning system because the money came from Biden. They owned the libs for sure with that choice.

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woods4me@reddit

They got what they voted for, and they can serve as an example for others.

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LesnBOS@reddit

Yeah. Once I found that out I was furious- they killed their children and wasted millions of dollars and people’s time and energy for an outcome they literally CHOSE. In this case, FEMA should def have been denied.

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Physical_Ad5702@reddit

Using the last of the Ogallala Aquifer to cool a bitcoin mining operation. I’m sorry, I’m laughing. A lot. It’s just too stupid.

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TheArcticFox444@reddit

>It’s just too stupid. Stupid is running rampant these days...and accelerating.

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KernunQc7@reddit

>It’s just too stupid. Well the pandemic has caused 99% of people to lose 6-9 IQ points, so it does make sense in a way. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/even-fully-recovered-survivors-mild-covid-can-lose-iq-points-study-suggests https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2311330

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GorathTheMoredhel@reddit

This is the one thing I can't accept about Bitcoin. It's the fact that they're literally just hunting for a number over and over and over again to prove that they're big enough to be listened to. Why can't that work be directed towards something intrinsically useful? I'm sure there's some reason that sucks.

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-Calm_Skin-@reddit

Humanity has advance so far That we are using up a major ground water source, untold amounts of energy, and injuring people For imaginary coins

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frissiondownunder@reddit

Late-stage capitalism on full display. Have yall had enough? Think of Protopia. I swear, waking up the hive mind that is our species is like waking up a hungover snorlax. *You might already be Protopian.* 🌟

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Possible-Prize-4876@reddit

It's genuinely insane and unfathomable to me that bitcoin mines even exist. They aren't doing anything! It's solving pointless sums to make fake money. There is nothing being produced, just energy and resources used for no reason.

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teamsaxon@reddit

That's essentially what money is. Value created from nothing. Even when it was backed by gold, it held value because humans imagined it did. If all the water on earth dried up tomorrow, all this fake money would become valueless. Just as it should be. Humans and our stupid imaginary economies. We suck.

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FieldsofBlue@reddit

That's basically the entire economy by now.

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ProfessionalSea1888@reddit

At least Bitcoin mining should be linked to some relevant calculations.. Like finding the next decimal of pi or something..

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LesnBOS@reddit

Late stage capitalism is symbolized by nothing better!

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-Calm_Skin-@reddit

Perfection

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eleven-fu@reddit

The money they extract from it isn't fake, unfortunately. It's unregulated, artificial inflation, which means it's theft from the system itself.

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cire4@reddit

Am I a bad person because I feel worse for the animals suffering harm than the humans (who probably directly or indirectly voted for this)?

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-Calm_Skin-@reddit

How is it bad to be accepting that people get appropriate consequences, good or bad? That used to be how humans learned.

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teamsaxon@reddit

I have no qualms regarding us facing the consequences of our actions, HOWEVER non human animals are suffering and dying before we even pull our heads out of our collective arseholes. So whilst I really could not give a shit about human suffering, I care about the suffering of other life forms which unfortunately is directly correlated to human actions and therefore (albeit belated) human suffering. The two are sadly connected and as much as I want to see humanity burn, there's inner conflict as to whether it is right to advocate for that at the expense of the creatures and life that burns alongside us.

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teamsaxon@reddit

No. Absolutely unequivocally not. I feel the same.

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mushroomsarefriends@reddit

They voted for this, but I still feel sorry for them. They basically just sound like people who trust in the American system and its values. And for most of their lives it worked out reasonably well, things steadily got better for most people. I don't blame them for not seeing the bigger picture.

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747_full_of_cum@reddit

I didn’t vote for this :(

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CrystalInTheforest@reddit

We can be bad people together, my friend.

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Deguilded@reddit

Bitcoin miners are one example, AI is another, but in general, data centers are not sustainable. They use enormous amounts of energy, enormous amounts of fresh water... and for what? Plus, there's the less obvious part (above and beyond noise pollution and general malaise) - the hardware is being run continuously, and it dies. Switches, racks, hubs, cabling is exchanged constantly, and the old silicon goes straight in the dumpster. Plus, there's upgrades to things like GPU and CPU which supersedes an entire generation and result in mass obsolescence as a new generation is rolled out. It's just incredibly wasteful, and we could, realistically, live without pretty much all of it. Sure life would suck without tiktok videos, facebook, twitter feeds, gen AI videos and bitcoin but... wait, who am I kidding?

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teamsaxon@reddit

>we could, realistically, live without pretty much all of it. Sure life would suck without tiktok videos, facebook, twitter feeds, gen AI videos and bitcoin but... wait, who am I kidding? I live without most of that, my life doesn't suck because of that... My life sucks BECAUSE OF HUMANITY and our selfish greed and r@pe of the planet!

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Reasonable_Swan9983@reddit

Sometimes it seems like all we have. Entertainment via social media. And as the world turns more dystopian with each day, we're drawn into entertainment more and more.

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FYATWB@reddit

Every one of them voted for Ted Cruz and now they are confused about why their government doesn't care about them.

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747_full_of_cum@reddit

I have not and never will vote for that pile of shit excuse for a human, unfortunately we are outnumbered. Please save us.

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Jacob_KratomSobriety@reddit

It's mind boggling. They all voted for Trump and most said they would do it again as well. I have a feeling if this was happening in a liberal state, the same people wouldn't care at all and would be calling the people complaining "snowflakes".

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swampshark19@reddit

Let it hum.

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lobsterdog666@reddit

"they all voted for Trump" let me stop you there hoss. about 20% of the texas population voted for Trump. that is hardly "they all". most people in the US dont vote. they dont deserve to be immiserated for that decision.

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Jacob_KratomSobriety@reddit

I was speaking specifically about the people in the video. They all literally said they voted for him. Only 1 people said they would vote differently, if they could do it over. I get most people in the USA don’t vote and the democrats suck. However, if more Texan’s voted and stopped electing people like Abbot and Ted Cruz, maybe things would be different. Voter apathy is exactly what the fascists wanted and they got it.

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FYATWB@reddit

You should watch the video, near the end they ask people if they voted for this deregulation, and I'm sure they would have shown anyone they could find who didn't vote for it. They said, "Yes this is what I voted for, but I didn't think it would be like this." They only want to hurt the "other", the "bad people", not realizing they are the bad people.

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TudorrrrTudprrrr@reddit

If this exact thing happened to them under a democrat (even though that's pretty much impossible in Texas), they would be instantly yelling about how they're ruining the country.

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-Calm_Skin-@reddit

They will vote for them again. I’ll save my compassion. These people need to hurt more to learn.

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emseefely@reddit

They don’t call him Cancun Cruz for nothing

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verstohlen@reddit

Oh man, it's way bigger than that. It goes way beyond political divisiveness.

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kylerae@reddit (OP)

Yeah the amount of denial is pretty significant.

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Local_Vermicelli_856@reddit

In 5,000 years, when the vestiges of humanity rediscover archeology, I wonder what they will credit these massive data centers to. Will they think we existed entirely in a virtual world?

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swampshark19@reddit

They will almost certainly raise their eyebrows at the fact that we were filling our atmosphere with toxic fumes in order to generate random numbers.

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CrystalInTheforest@reddit

They'll likely have no idea what the hell it was and just be utterly co fused as to why someone would build something so big in and area with scarce resources. I don't think any memory of our forage with crypto and ai will survive in cultural memory in a way that makes it meaningful or understanding to our successors.

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tsuki_darkrai@reddit

Not gonna fedpost but golly it would sure be a shame if something happened to that facility in a fantasy setting definitely not applicable to real life

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Competitive_Shock783@reddit

Try not voting for shitty politicians that allow this kind of thing to happen. Like when you decided it was better to let kids drown instead of take federal monies to install storm warning systems.

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HardNut420@reddit

You don't have much of a choice if your two choices a clans man and a neo Nazi

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Competitive_Shock783@reddit

Other people can run for office. If the choices are that bad, the people want it.

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HardNut420@reddit

That's not how it works we don't live in a democracy most people don't vote because the candidates are bad only about half or less than half of the population in America votes and you only need about half of that to win so most candidates only win with a 3rd of the vote Look at a trump he is extremely unpopular right now this is the worst time to come in here and be like we actually live in the most free democracy

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00001000U@reddit

Businesses destroying the lives of rural Texas towns is like the foundational promise of Texas.

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AbstractWarrior23@reddit

texas geniunely seems like such a shithole.

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-Calm_Skin-@reddit

My surprise is that they expect it to be different.

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paeh_42@reddit

https://preview.redd.it/rkdptrlbn0ff1.jpeg?width=269&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd80fb632e071e928c41361f431b1d35b263d246

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AtomicaBombica@reddit

The amount of wasted energy and resources on this f\*\*king boondoggle is obscene. This isn't and will hopefully never be a currency, it's just stupid. Money is supposed to represent a claim on things of value to facilitate trade, domestic and foreign. Yes, we need sound money that isn't being inflated away into nothing, but this most gods-damned certainly is not a solution to anything whatsoever. We have problems that are far more pressing than petty currencies we humans use. However, if we weren't collectively screwed and fixing our currency was a reasonable goal - than we'd be far better off with hard currencies underpinning everything, but it's hard to do that when we create currency at such a stupendous pace.

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Itchy-Pressure-6190@reddit

Our society values ecological destruction, now our currency will be even more in line with our ideology

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GringoSwann@reddit

Well, you get what you deserve... Rural Texans are the loudest, most obnoxious fuckers in the state... I had to move back into the city because of them...

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MucilaginusCumberbun@reddit

Meanwhile they are "Rollin coal" in front of every prius they see just to be obnoxious. while bitcoin rolls coal on their entire homestead

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GringoSwann@reddit

Exactly.. rolling coal.. BLASTING ranchero music or bro-country every fucking day until 3am... Pushing people off the roads.. Blinding them with high beams/light bars and shit... Shooting guns at all hours... Fucking meth labs/addicts galore.. Fuck em ALL!

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Itchy-Pressure-6190@reddit

Texas is already Mad Max/Borderlands

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Vorobye@reddit

> Shooting guns at all hours.. Yet not a single worthy target was hit. Imagine sitting on a big pile o'guns and tolerating this.

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gamerqc@reddit

How else you gonna get Mad Max?

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AdamGenesis@reddit

Check your State. Oklahoma has one in Muskogee and the residents there say it sounds like a spaceship that never takes off.

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UpbeatBarracuda@reddit

That's crazy! What exactly makes it so loud? I hate loud sounds and I would lose my mind and do something extraconstitutional in a hurry

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wen_mars@reddit

Cooling fans. They could make it quieter by using larger fans and running them slower, using watercooling or adding noise insulation, but they won't unless someone forces them to because cheaper means more profitable.

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MachinistOfSorts@reddit

I'm just guessing, but I'd guess various hums and rumbles and whines, all rolled in to one. Mostly from water pumps and HVAC systems, possibly with electric buzz thrown in. Mining is done with video cards (i think?), and I'm picturing them in a large server style rack. All that hardware generates enormous amounts of heat. My video card will apparently start to fail at 89C/192F for reference. Plus, computer parts generally run more efficiently when they are cooler which matters even more when you're running it at full load all the time. If it's a -really- ad hoc type thing, they might sometimes have doors open to let in outside air, which would also let out the noise of all the smaller fans on the hardware inside the buildings too. Purely speculating, though.

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annaltern@reddit

You're generally close. Mining on large scale is now done with ASICs, devices specialised for the purpose (as opposed to graphic cards). Noise is produced by the fans on the devices.

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MachinistOfSorts@reddit

Oh neat! I'd never heard of ASICs. Thank you.

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annaltern@reddit

It's interesting tech, though obviously setting it up in a residential area is just psycho-level insane.

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bubbaT88@reddit

Just another reason to hate hot wheels and the man that ate my son!

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leo_aureus@reddit

This is all so beautiful. Or would be if it were just the people affected and not the flora and fauna. That’s about where I stand right now.

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trivetsandcolanders@reddit

The shitty thing is no region is a monolith…there are plenty of good Texans with good beliefs, who don’t deserve this, not to mention people who have medical conditions or live in poverty and just can’t afford to leave the state.

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leo_aureus@reddit

Absolutely correct, I overgeneralized of course—it is hard to overcome to be honest with you.

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trivetsandcolanders@reddit

I totally get that, it’s hard not to feel some bitterness or satisfaction with the non-good ones getting what is coming their way. (As in, “I can’t believe the leopards ate my face!”)

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palpebral@reddit

SolidGoldMagikarp

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abslyde@reddit

r/leopardsatemyface

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SweatyPut2875@reddit

the leopards, at least, won't be running out of food

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alcohall183@reddit

There's very little money to be made from these data machines. Some taxes on the utilities, but you have to build new utilities to keep up with demand, so you actually LOSE money. There is no gold at the end of the data center rainbow for cities. Only for the owners of the data centers. For the cities, it can turn them into a rust belt.

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Ok-Organization2120@reddit

How are these places legal?

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CrystalInTheforest@reddit

Whether or not something is legal depends on how much money the person carrying out the act has.

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Dyler_Turden369@reddit

Ethereum fixes this.

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jamesegattis@reddit

I've seen some data centers put up barriers around the premises and it cuts out alot of the noise. Relatively inexpensive solution. Using up resources is another matter.

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CosmicButtholes@reddit

Are data centers and bitcoin mines the same thing? Can’t data centers host other stuff like video games?

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blinkysmurf@reddit

Christopher Walken at Burning Man.

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SignificantWear1310@reddit

Also AI

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abslyde@reddit

r/cougaratemyface

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Federal-Ask6837@reddit

I think there is a lot of positive things about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, but this is just so stupid in a uniquely American way.

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RadiantRole266@reddit

Crypto currencies aren’t even currencies. These are speculative investments. Like calling a painting a currency. Big pyramid scheme. Invest invest invest, pull the assets out and let the fools take the hit. Mining the public’s energy system for profit and dressing it up as a revolutionary technology. A farce.

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aConifer@reddit

The way the block chain works means the past must always be carried forward in completeness. Creating an ever greater amount of work to just run the network. It’s a microcosm of the larger systems collapse we’re heading towards. An embedded growth obligation.

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turnkey_tyranny@reddit

This IS cryptocurrency, as it turns out. Bitcoin was a cool proof of concept but it just a planet destroying speculative asset now. None of the applications or technical advantages panned out.

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StatementBot@reddit

The following submission statement was provided by /u/kylerae: --- SS: This video visits an area in Texas that is overwhelmed with noise pollution from Bitcoin mining. The noise pollution is causing health issues in both the people and animals in the area. They are also seeing raised electricity and water rates. The mining facility consumes about the same amount of electricity a day as a city around the size of Austin, TX. There is also a new facility being built to mine bitcoin that will consume approximately 1/8th of the city's water supply. The area is predominantly conservative and it seems most don't really blame the politicians. This is collapse related because as we are staring resource depletion (especially water), electricity constraints, and increasing health issues (both from a collapsing health industry as well as the impacts from our pollution) in the face, the wealthy and the politicians are doing everything in their power to make as much money as possible to the detriment of anyone in the areas impacted. Unfortunately it seems people will continue to be in denial about who is the cause of their issues and the general public will continue to allow these things to be built. --- Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/collapse/comments/1m8fmov/i_live_500_feet_from_a_bitcoin_mine_my_life_is/n4yuwe6/

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bijobini@reddit

Big "if only Stalin knew" vibes

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kylerae@reddit (OP)

SS: This video visits an area in Texas that is overwhelmed with noise pollution from Bitcoin mining. The noise pollution is causing health issues in both the people and animals in the area. They are also seeing raised electricity and water rates. The mining facility consumes about the same amount of electricity a day as a city around the size of Austin, TX. There is also a new facility being built to mine bitcoin that will consume approximately 1/8th of the city's water supply. The area is predominantly conservative and it seems most don't really blame the politicians. This is collapse related because as we are staring resource depletion (especially water), electricity constraints, and increasing health issues (both from a collapsing health industry as well as the impacts from our pollution) in the face, the wealthy and the politicians are doing everything in their power to make as much money as possible to the detriment of anyone in the areas impacted. Unfortunately it seems people will continue to be in denial about who is the cause of their issues and the general public will continue to allow these things to be built.

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