Data Centers, Appalachia, and Art: The South Takes the Stage at Climate Week

WASHINGTON – June 25, 2026 – For years, the global climate conversation has been dominated by voices from coastal megacities and international forums. This September, a powerful new chorus will join the discussion as the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) brings its inaugural public event to Climate Week NYC, aiming to spotlight the U.S. South's pivotal and often-overlooked role in the climate crisis.

On September 22, the largest environmental legal advocacy group in the South will host a one-day, public event at Iron23 in Manhattan, offering both in-person and virtual attendance. The program is a triptych of the region's most pressing environmental challenges and innovative solutions, focusing on the explosive growth of data centers, the ecological resilience of Appalachia, and the power of storytelling to galvanize action. This strategic move is designed to inject firsthand experience from the frontlines of climate change into a conversation that can sometimes feel abstract.

"The South matters when it comes to solving the climate crisis. Yet, Southern voices are often missing from the conversation during Climate Week," said SELC Executive Director DJ Gerken in the announcement. "That's why we are bringing the South to this international convening – highlighting the beauty, community, joy, and immense challenges we face and the progress happening in this growing and evolving region."

The Data Center Dilemma

One of the event's most timely panels, "Data Centers: Community-Led Advocacy to Real Solutions," tackles a modern paradox. The U.S. South has become the world's largest hub for data centers, the physical backbone of our digital lives. States like Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina have courted the tech industry with tax incentives and available land, promising economic growth. However, this boom comes at a steep environmental cost.

These massive facilities are voracious consumers of energy and water. Virginia's "Data Center Alley," for example, now consumes the power equivalent of a small city, straining the electrical grid and raising concerns about the reliance on fossil fuels to meet the ever-growing demand. In communities across Georgia and the Carolinas, the millions of gallons of water required daily for cooling systems threaten to exacerbate drought conditions and deplete local water sources.

The SELC panel aims to move beyond the headlines of tech expansion and dig into the community-level response. Grassroots organizers across the region are pushing back, demanding greater transparency, more stringent environmental reviews, and commitments from tech giants to power their facilities with 100% renewable energy. The discussion will highlight how local advocacy is scaling up, calling for national policy action to create a more sustainable framework for the digital infrastructure that underpins the global economy. For an organization like SELC, with over 130 legal and policy experts, this represents a critical new frontier in environmental law.

Appalachia: A Bastion of Biodiversity Under Threat

The second panel, "Over, Under, and Through: Wildlife Connectivity and Resilience in Appalachia," shifts the focus from silicon to soil. The ancient Appalachian mountains, a global biodiversity hotspot, were once considered a climate haven. Now, the region faces intensifying threats. Projections show significant temperature increases, altered rainfall patterns that bring both flash droughts and catastrophic floods, and a host of ecological stressors from invasive species to increased fire risk.

Despite these vulnerabilities, the region is also a model of resilience. The Appalachians function as a "biodiversity superhighway," a critical corridor allowing plant and animal species to migrate north or to higher elevations in response to a warming climate. This natural resilience is being bolstered by concerted conservation efforts. Organizations are working to protect and reconnect fragmented habitats, restore forests on former mining lands, and create wildlife crossings to reduce animal-vehicle collisions.

The panel will explore how these efforts not only help wildlife but also build resilience for human communities. Protecting floodplains mitigates flood risk for towns downstream, and healthy forests ensure cleaner water and air. By showcasing these interconnected solutions, SELC intends to demonstrate that ecological health and community well-being are two sides of the same coin, offering a powerful counter-narrative to the historical exploitation of the region's natural resources.

Weaving New Narratives for Climate Action

The final panel, "Storytelling in the U.S. South: Igniting Climate Action through Art," addresses a fundamental challenge in the climate movement: how to translate data and policy into human connection and collective will. The South has a rich, world-renowned tradition of storytelling, and this session will explore how musicians, artists, poets, and other creators are using their craft to redefine the region's narrative and inspire action.

This is not merely about aesthetics; it's about building a more inclusive and effective movement. By sharing authentic stories of place, community, and struggle, these artists are making the abstract threat of climate change tangible and personal. They are creating new avenues for engagement, particularly for communities of color and underserved populations who are often hardest hit by climate impacts but left out of the decision-making process.

The panel promises to be a vibrant exploration of how creative expression can foster empathy, challenge assumptions, and help communities reimagine a more just and sustainable future. It underscores a core belief driving SELC's work: that lasting change requires not only legal and political victories but also a profound cultural shift.

By bringing these three distinct but interconnected conversations to New York, the Southern Environmental Law Center is making a clear statement. The solutions to the global climate crisis won't be found exclusively in corporate boardrooms or international treaties; they are being forged on the ground, in the communities facing the impacts head-on. For one day in September, the engine room of the Southern climate movement will be on full display.