How the insatiable thirst of datacenters is leaving communities across the US high and dry

In this week’s newsletter: Utah’s gargantuan Stratos development is the latest battleground in the AI-driven fight for water, energy, and our environmental future

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Kevin O’Leary is many things.

He is a flamboyant venture capitalist, co-host of the TV show Shark Tank, vocal supporter of Donald Trump and, recently, a villainous tycoon (or, in his character’s words, a vampire born in 1601) in the Oscar-nominated Marty Supreme.

For the people of Utah, however, O’Leary is the highly controversial face of a new climate controversy.

I’ll explain why, after this week’s most important reads.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/02/prepare-for-imminent-return-of-el-nino-un-warns">Prepare for imminent return of El Niño, UN warns

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/04/world-inequality-lab-equality-academics-planetary-survival">‘An equal and habitable world is possible’: academics set out sweeping vision for planetary survival

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/may/30/australia-great-barrier-reef-island-resorts">Damaged, deserted, dilapidated … what comes next for the Great Barrier Reef island resorts lying in ruins?