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Yves here. The bubble surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) is overdue to burst. Our regular contributor, Tom Valovic, has shared his latest article from Common Dreams, along with this note:
Governors from New England, including Gov. Healey of Massachusetts, are forming a controversial partnership with Big Tech to revive nuclear power. Today, a summit is taking place in Lowell, MA, focused on developing strategies for this initiative. Even more concerning, this isn’t merely corporate welfare; it involves state funds being channeled into the military-industrial complex as the U.S. embraces a defense-oriented economy.
Tom also included a link to a relevant article from WBUR, titled New England leaders — and protesters — gather in Mass. for nuclear summit. Here’s a crucial excerpt from that article:
- What we’re observing: Gov. Maura Healey has suggested repealing a 1982 law that mandates a statewide vote for constructing new nuclear plants in Massachusetts. This proposal is part of her energy affordability bill, currently under negotiation behind closed doors in the State House. (While the House is supportive of the repeal, the Senate is not.)
- Demonstrations are planned outside the summit by supporters of the law, known as Chapter 503. Deb Katz, director of the Citizens Awareness Network, emphasized, “These guardrails are more vital than ever,” referring to the Trump administration’s recent relaxation of federal nuclear regulations. She urged for politicians who safeguard our rights to determine our energy future.
If you know anyone in Massachusetts, please share this article with them and encourage them to contact their state legislators with strong objections. Maintaining the requirement for a statewide vote is crucial for ensuring safety and accountability.
By Tom Valovic, a writer, editor, futurist, and author of Digital Mythologies (Rutgers University Press), a series of essays about social and cultural issues posed by the internet. He has served as a consultant for the former Congressional Office of Technology Assessment and was editor-in-chief of Telecommunications magazine, where he was the first journalist to cover the public internet’s emergence in the early ’90s. Tom’s writings about technology’s societal effects appear in various publications including the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Examiner, Columbia University’s Media Studies Journal, Common Dreams, Asia Times, Naked Capitalism, AlterNet, local Futurism, the Sierra Club Newsletter, The Journal of Future Studies, and more. Reach him at jazzbird@outlook.com. Originally published at Common Dreams
As you might have observed, nuclear power is making a comeback. Many mainstream Democrats have not only abandoned crucial working-class concerns but are also disregarding some of the carefully fought core tenets of the environmental movement developed over decades. It seems someone has waved a magic wand, transforming nuclear power into a “green” energy source while ignoring the potential risks, and perhaps implying that if you become irradiated, you’ll be turning green.
Is Nuclear Power Really Green? It’s Just Corporate Marketing Hype.
So, how did we reach this point? Let’s delve into recent developments in New England, particularly Massachusetts, which serves as an illustrative example. In this historically progressive state, Gov. Maura Healey is keen to reinstate nuclear power despite a 1982 voter referendum that currently prohibits it unless stringent safeguards are established and statewide voter approval is obtained. She is not alone; in March 2026, a consortium of New England governors—primarily Democrats—directed their energy agencies to examine advanced nuclear technologies while still backing existing sources of nuclear energy.
The announcement from Gov. Healey’s office characterized nuclear power as a “cornerstone of New England’s electric grid.” The statement also encouraged the growth of public-private partnerships. Unfortunately, this concept has evolved into a model for corporate exploitation of public assets and a significant building block for ongoing deregulation. The press release celebrated nuclear energy, emphasizing that “by ensuring the continued operation of our existing nuclear facilities and pursuing next-generation technologies, New England will maintain its leadership in energy innovation and grid modernization to meet our current and future energy needs.”
The Hidden Connection: AI Data Centers and Nuclear Energy
It’s essential to investigate the complex corporate and political dynamics supporting this concerning regression in environmental policy. It’s revealing to see how closely the positions of the New England governors align with the energy policy of former President Donald Trump. This situation reflects a disturbing political and cultural amnesia regarding the genuine dangers of nuclear power. In attempting to unravel this complicated web, we inevitably encounter the familiar player: Big Tech’s relentless and often covert agenda streaming through all levels of government.
A longer discussion would trace this issue back to the compromise struck by President Bill Clinton, who yielded to neoliberal interests and effectively reshaped the Democratic Party. This shift laid the groundwork for what many now term a uniparty—an unholy alliance between establishment Republicans and Democrats on essential issues, resembling a singular entity devoid of distinctions. This coalition represents a fundamental agreement concerning three alarming trends in our political landscape: rampant militarization, excessive deregulation leading to unchecked privatization, and allowing the Big Tech genie to escape the bottle, undermining democracy in favor of technocratic governance.
What is unfolding with nuclear energy in New England illustrates how once-solid political values have been gradually eroded through backdoor mechanisms (like non-disclosure agreements) operating beyond the light of democracy. So why are Gov. Healey and her peers so enthusiastic about nuclear 2.0? Are they simply yielding to pressures from the Trump administration, appeasing Big Tech’s interests, or just following the money trail?
It’s widely acknowledged that Trump has vigorously supported Big Tech’s push to establish AI data centers, despite the well-documented adverse effects on environmental health, water sources, energy costs, and overall living conditions. A rapidly executed plan to deploy nuclear reactors to supply energy for these data centers is a pivotal strategy for Big Tech. Microsoft’s proposal to utilize the Three-Mile Island nuclear facility for AI power supply illustrates this shift.
In their March 2026 announcement, the New England governors aligned with Trump’s substantial $17.5 billion fund aimed at accelerating the construction of nuclear reactors across the country to support AI data centers. They also expressed interest in exploring fresh technologies such as the yet unproven small modular reactors and nuclear fusion. At the same time, Trump has been discouraging viable renewable energy alternatives like wind and solar, abruptly cancelling numerous well-advanced projects, and even announcing a $765 million payment to Invenergy to halt the development of four wind farms across states including Maine and New York.
Unraveling the “Zero Carbon” Deception
Proponents of nuclear energy are now deploying the “zero carbon” narrative to mislead the public into believing that nuclear energy is safe and environmentally friendly. This clever reframing relies on widespread cultural amnesia regarding past nuclear catastrophes such as Fukushima, Chernobyl, and Three-Mile Island, while conveniently ignoring the enduring nuclear waste dilemma. Some in the industry now claim that nuclear waste can be recycled and repurposed, but such assertions should be viewed with skepticism.
Nuclear energy remains perilous—perhaps even more so now that Trump is dismantling long-standing regulatory protections. Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and Greenpeace, vehemently oppose it. The Sierra Club explicitly states that it “opposes the licensing, construction, and operation of new nuclear reactors utilizing the fission process, pending the resolution of significant safety issues associated with reactor operation, waste disposal, and the potential weaponization of nuclear materials.”
The complacency of Gov. Healey and the other New England governors towards both Trump’s agenda and the interests of Big Tech is alarming. Their attempts to evade the restrictions set by a 1982 voter referendum that impose strict limits on nuclear power in Massachusetts is equally concerning. Thankfully, the Massachusetts state senate rejected Healey’s effort to bypass this democratic mandate. Although she recently championed legislation aimed at controlling the excesses of AI data center expansion, a closer look reveals that this initiative may also lay the groundwork for the establishment of additional nuclear plants to support these data centers.
On a more positive note, citizen groups are actively resisting both the expansion of AI data centers and the resurgence of nuclear power. Organizations such as The Commonwealth Coalition for Democracy and Safe Energy (CCDSE) represent a collaborative alliance of over 15 entities, including Mass. Power Forward, the Sierra Club, Clamshell Alliance, Massachusetts Peace Action, Cape Downwinders, Save Our Bay Massachusetts, and Citizens Awareness Network. These groups have unified in their opposition to nuclear energy and successfully advocated for the Massachusetts Senate to prioritize democratic principles and safe energy over the cronyism of Big Tech.
