Hill Heat

To hear many in the tech industry tell it, data centers will bring wealth and prosperity not only to those who build them, but to the communities that ultimately live with and around them. However, drawing a longer historical arc is essential: AI is proposed as a new industrial moonshot in communities that have already seen the rise and fall of steel factories, coal plants, fracking infrastructure, and more. Today’s companies are trying to sell communities on yet another industrial vision.

On Sept. 22 at 5:30 p.m., join us in Midtown East, Manhattan, for a panel discussion featuring journalists, nonprofits, and community organizers who are uncovering the impact of data centers across the country and sharing that information with the public.

Our panel discussion will feature

• Maia Woluchem, program director of Data & Society’s Trustworthy Infrastructures program;
• Alejandra Martinez, The Texas Tribune environmental reporter and Pulitzer Center grantee;
• Brian Crawford, Texas resident with the nonprofit Protect the Paluxy Valley; and
• Ginny Marcille-Kerslake, Pennsylvania resident and Senior Organizer at Food & Water Watch.

Moderator:

• Kit R. Roane, award-winning senior producer at Retro Report

This event is anchored by the launch of Data & Society’s forthcoming report, The AI Factory: Data Centers, Power and Resistance in Late Industrial Pennsylvania, a landmark study emerging out of eighteen months of field research in the Keystone State, as well as Pulitzer Center-supported reporting on data center development by The Texas Tribune.

Light refreshments will be served. Seating is limited, and R.S.V.P. is required.

This panel discussion is co-organized by Data & Society, Retro Report, and The Pulitzer Center.

Retro Report Inc
633 3rd Avenue, #16th floor
New York, NY 10017

09/22/2026 at 05:30PM

Join Bill Nye, science educator and author, for a rooftop garden party to celebrate our environmental allies and the power of collective action. As we approach these critical midterm elections, electing climate champions will require bringing together advocates, organizations, and communities around a shared vision for a more sustainable future. Whether your work focuses on solar energy, food security, conservation, or clean water, the leaders we elect shape the future of every issue we care about; Troy Jackson, candidate for US Senate in Maine, will share his optimism looking forward. Together, we can build the powerful coalition needed to turn shared values into electoral victories.

Featuring:

• Bill Nye, Award-Winning Science Educator & Activist
• Manish Bapna, President & Chief Executive Officer of NRDC Action Fund
• Troy Jackson, Candidate for U.S. Senate (ME)

NoHo, New York, NY

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09/22/2026 at 05:00PM

Landmark eco-friendly policies don’t happen by chance; they require electing leaders who prioritize environmental action and climate solutions at every level of government. Hear from a panel of leaders across the environmental movement as they discuss the role of climate and clean energy in this election, how electoral engagement drives meaningful policy change, and why building durable coalitions is essential to advancing climate action well beyond Election Day.

Featuring:

• Pete Maysmith, President of LCV
• Loren Blackford, Executive Director of Sierra Club
• Jed Ober, NRDC Action Fund Managing Director for Political Affairs
• Erica Slates, GiveGreen Vice President

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NoHo, New York, NY

09/22/2026 at 03:15PM

This Climate Week NYC 2026 event will bring together trade unionists, researchers, and movement allies to examine the growing international momentum behind the “Public Pathway”, a union-led approach to energy transition based on public ownership, democratic planning, public finance, and energy as a public good. The discussion will situate current energy debates within the wider global crisis of neoliberal “green growth,” where transition policy has too often relied on private investors, de-risking schemes, and market incentives that fail to deliver universal access, decent work, or rapid system transformation.

​The panel will highlight emerging struggles and proposals from Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and North America, asking what it means for unions to reclaim energy systems from a market-led approach and rebuild them around social need, sovereignty, and democratic control. Speakers will discuss examples such as Mexico’s post-neoliberal electricity agenda, public energy debates in Latin America, South-South cooperation, and the role of unions in defending public utilities while pushing them toward a stronger public-goods mandate.

​The event will also ask how international solidarity can move beyond statements and become practical cooperation: shared research, political education, worker-to-worker exchanges, and coordinated responses to privatization, trade/investment pressures, and climate finance models that weaken public systems. The goal is to make the Public Pathway visible during Climate Week as a serious global alternative: not simply “more public ownership” in the abstract, but a concrete strategy for energy democracy, just transition, and development led by workers and communities.

Speakers:

• Ethan Young, Public Services International (PSI) North America Subregional Coordinator
• Brian Kamanzi, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, Researcher
• Andres Chiriboga, I3t - Industry, Infrastructures, and Innovation for Strategic Transformation, Director of Finance for Industrial Transformation
• Mathew Lawrence, Common Wealth, Founder and Director
• Johanna Bozuwa, Climate and Community Institute, Executive Director
• Lala Peñaranda (moderator), Trade Unions for Energy Democracy, Latin America Coordinator

CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies
25 W 43rd St 19th floor
New York, NY 10036, USA

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09/22/2026 at 02:00PM

A Main Stage session.

It’s boom time for the AI buildout, and cities across the country are scrambling to keep up. Data centers arrive with a voracious appetite for energy and billions in capital investment, bringing relatively minimal permanent jobs and varied effects on water use and community well-being. All of it lands on the grid, land, and water systems for which mayors are accountable. We hear from three mayors navigating the challenges and opportunities of this new era of industrialization.

Speakers:

• Daniel Rickenmann, Mayor, Columbia, South Carolina
• Kate Gallego, Mayor, Phoenix, Arizona
• Justin Bibb, Mayor, Cleveland, Ohio
• Kate Wright, Executive Director, Climate Mayors

09/22/2026 at 01:55PM

Join 7 Directions of Service during Climate Week NYC for an Indigenous-led conversation examining the hidden connections between the rapid growth of data centers and AI, increasing electricity demand, fossil fuel infrastructure, water consumption, land acquisition, and threats to Indigenous and frontline communities.

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Location TBA.

09/22/2026 at 01:30PM

As communities advance legal and legislative efforts to make Big Oil companies pay for climate damages, the fossil fuel industry is pulling every lever to escape accountability: lobbying Congress and state legislatures for broad legal immunity, attacking climate science and judicial education projects, and urging the U.S. Supreme Court to stop state and local climate deception lawsuits against oil majors before they can reach trial.

On the eve of the U.S. Supreme Court arguments, join a panel of climate accountability leaders to learn about these brazen efforts and how communities are fighting to protect their right to hold Big Oil accountable.

​This event will be moderated by Emily Atkin, Editor-in-chief at HEATED. Speakers include Former Washington Governor Jay Inslee, Former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, Tennessee Representative Justin Jones, and Dr. Pallavi Phartiyal of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

​This event is co-hosted by the Center for Climate Integrity and the Union of Concerned Scientists. Co-sponsors include: Climate Defenders, Fossil Free for Health, Fossil Free Media, GreenFaith, Law Students for Climate Accountability, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Third Act, and Third Act New Jersey.

09/22/2026 at 01:00PM

A summit at Climate Week NYC showcasing clean energy leaders doing the work in rural America.

Anchored by Canary Media’s flagship reporting series on rural America, this event puts a spotlight on the communities that too rarely make the headlines.

The day features main stage conversations with Canary journalists, expert panelists, and partners, alongside breakout sessions and workshops diving deeper into the topics shaping clean energy’s next chapter.

Space is limited. Please join the waitlist and we’ll notify you when a spot opens up.

A reception rounds out the day, giving attendees space to connect with the clean energy leaders who are doing the work.

Lineup:

• Tim Pawlenty, President & CEO, SEIA, former Republican Governor, Minnesota
• Jay Inslee, Former Democratic Governor, Washington
• Heather O’Neill, President & CEO, Advanced Energy United
• W. Mondale Robinson, Mayor of Enfield, North Carolina
• Suzanne Singer, Founder and Executive Director, Native Renewables
• Ben Gerber, President & CEO, CleanCounts
• Matt Traldi, CEO & Co-founder, Greenlight America, co-founder, Indivisible
• David Roberts, Founder, Volts.wtf
• Leah Qusba, CEO, GoodPower
• Sarah Hunt, CEO & President, Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy
• Scott Jennings, Senior Political Contributor, CNN, former George W. Bush administration official
• Michelle Moore, CEO, Groundswell
• Jacob I. Hannah, CEO, Coalfield Development Corp.
• Abre’ Conner, Director of the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, NAACP
• Scott Laeser, Senior Working Lands Advisor, Rural Climate Partnership
• Robert Blake, Executive Director, Native Sun Community Power Development
• Jordan Macknick, Distinguished Member of Research Staff, National Laboratory of the Rockies
• Julia Tilton, Reporter, Daily Yonder
• Julian Spector, Senior Reporter, Canary Media
• Dr. Daniel Howard, Founder & CEO, Quantum Energy

Sponsors:

• Presenting: Advanced Energy United, CleanCounts, GoodPower, Invest in Our Future, MacArthur Foundation
• Signature: Rural Climate Partnership
• Supporting: McKnight Foundation, Outrider Foundation, SEIA

Civic Hall
124 East 14th Street
New York, NY

09/22/2026 at 12:00PM

America’s energy landscape is changing rapidly as rising electricity demand, new technologies and growing infrastructure needs collide with debates over affordability, reliability and climate. Federal, state and local leaders are navigating how to meet those challenges while supporting economic growth and determining the role government should play in America’s evolving energy mix.

Join Axios House at Climate Week for an event on the policy decisions shaping America’s energy future. We’ll convene political and policy leaders to discuss the evolving politics of energy and climate, the balance between economic and environmental priorities, and what the next era of American energy policy could look like.

One-on-one conversations with:

• Jarrod Agen, Executive Director, National Energy Dominance Council, Assistant to the President
• Mike Levin, Representative, California’s 49th Congressional District (D)
• JB Straud, Founder and CEO, Redwood Materials

11:00am | Doors open

11:30am | Mainstage conversations

12:30pm | Event ends

GH on the Park
54 W. 40th St
New York, NY 10018

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09/22/2026 at 11:00AM

A Main Stage session.

Climate disasters, a fractured geopolitical world, and surging power demand are creating the perfect storm for the global economy. How can Washington and international leaders weather the storm?

Speakers:

• Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.)
• David Crane, CEO, Generate Capital
• Anne Kelly, VP, Government Relations, Ceres

North Javits Center, New York City

Register

09/22/2026 at 09:30AM