LSU PLAYERS REPORT 12 burning questions as practice begins 1C
ADVOCATE THE
T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
|
W e d n e s d ay, J u ly 30, 2025
$2.00X
Unusual coalition fights plants for Meta Environmentalists, oil companies oppose data center power proposal
BY JOSIE ABUGOV Staff writer
It’s not often that environmental groups and oil companies team up for a cause. The plan to power Meta’s giant AI data center in remote Louisiana has proved to be a rare exception. A coalition of some of Louisiana’s largest oil, gas and petrochemical companies are fighting the proposal
from Entergy to spend billions on three new power plants and related infrastructure to support the tech giant’s biggest ever data center. They have joined environmental and consumer watchdogs in the effort. The companies, under the banner the Louisiana Energy Users Group (LEUG), allege Entergy’s plan would create an “unprecedented risk” to other utility customers,
potentially leaving them to cover costs. Entergy says safeguards will be in place, while Meta and state officials highlight the economic development benefits the project will bring to an impoverished area of northeast Louisiana. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, announced its plan in December to build the $10 billion data center in rural Richland Parish. The new
facility will be a centerpiece of the tech company’s race to create technology smarter than the human brain. Entergy, the state’s largest utility, is building the plants to power the facility, which will sit on agricultural land the size of around 70 football fields and consume more electricity than two New Orleans summers.
ä See COALITION, page 9A
La. OMV replacing computer system
20
Monroe
165 49
Alexandria
20
Holly Ridge: Site of Meta AI data center LA.
MISS.
Miss. River Baton Rouge
49
Staff map
10
Sharing of satellite storm data to continue
Vendor selected in drive to speed service
Federal government had planned to cut program
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
BY KASEY BUBNASH
Getting a driver’s license, registration or other service from Louisiana’s Office of Motor Vehicles could get much easier because the state has selected a vendor to replace its half-century-old computer system, state officials said. “It’ll be modern. It’ll be quick. It’ll be easy in-and-out of the OMVs,” said Bryan Adams, who has overseen the agency since Dan Casey resigned as commissioner in March. “We hope to make the experience when you go to the Office of Motor Vehicles a lot friendlier than it is now, because obviously the system we have is outdated. It’s slow. It shuts down.” Gov. Jeff Landry announced Tuesday the choice of a new system in a video posted on social media, saying Louisianans will be able to “rely on a state-of-the-art program.” The video is part of his ‘Diner Days’ series on YouTube. Eventually, the state hopes Louisianans will be able to access some services online, but officials do not yet know what exactly will be possible, Adams said. “Ultimately we want to be able to give our citizens a choice and make it much easier for them to renew their driver’s licenses, address issues at OMV, get a driver’s license,” Landry said. “We want
The federal government is reversing course on a plan to cut crucial hurricane forecasting satellite data following pushback from meteorologists and government officials nationwide. Erica Grow Cei, a spokesperson for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said Tuesday that data collected through the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program would continue to be distributed for the foreseeable future. DMSP satellites, which are operated by NOAA and the U.S. Air Force, provide environmental and weather information used both in the planning of U.S. military operations and NOAA’s weather forecasts, according to the agency. While Grow Cei said the program represents just one dataset in “a robust suite” of hurricane forecasting and modeling tools used by NOAA, hurricane and weather experts say the loss of DMSP satellites, which offer unique capabilities that help scientists track storms at night and spot signs of rapid intensification, would be a devastating blow. The U.S. Department of Defense first announced plans to halt data collection through the program in late June, with the suspension slated for June 30. No reasoning was provided in a service notice issued by NOAA on June 26. The news came as a shock to local and national weather forecasters, many of whom complained of having little to no notice regarding the critical change. They also
ä See OMV, page 7A
61
Staff writer
IMAGE PROVIDED By THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
A satellite image shows Hurricane Iona forming in the central Pacific Ocean on Monday.
ä See SATELLITE, page 8A
Police say N.Y. gunman was trying to get to NFL offices He claimed to have brain disease linked to contact sports BY JENNIFER PELTZ, CEDAR ATTANASIO, DAVE COLLINS and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press
NEW YORK — A gunman who killed four people inside a Manhattan office tower blamed his mental health problems on the NFL and intended to target the league’s headquarters upstairs, but he took the wrong elevator, officials said Tuesday.
WEATHER HIGH 94 LOW 75 PAGE 8B
Investigators said Shane Tamura, a Las Vegas casino worker, was carrying a handwritten note in his wallet that claimed he suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known as CTE, and accused the league of hiding the dangers of brain injuries linked to contact sports. Tamura, 27, shot several people in the skyscraper’s lobby and another in a 33rd-floor office on Monday before he killed himself, authorities said. Among the victims were an off-duty New York City police officer and a security guard. The attacker’s grievances with the NFL emerged as police began piecing together the details of his
life and the cross-country road trip that brought him to Manhattan. It’s unclear if Tamura showed symptoms of CTE, which can only be diagnosed by examining the brain after a person dies. Tamura, who played high school football in California a decade ago Tamura but never played in the NFL, had a history of mental illness, police said. In the three-page note found on his body, he accused the NFL
ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO By ANGELINA KATSANIS
Flower wreaths stand at a memorial Tuesday for the four people killed in ä See GUNMAN, page 7A Monday’s shooting in New york.
Business ......................3B Commentary ................7B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................4B Opinion ........................6B Comics-Puzzles .....4D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
101ST yEAR, NO. 30