Published books

Toxic Truth examines the environmental and public-health consequences of the September 11 attacks and the difficult questions that followed. It explores concerns about Ground Zero air quality, official safety assurances, government records, and the information provided to first responders, cleanup workers, residents, and employees in Lower Manhattan.
The book follows the twenty-five-year struggle of firefighters, police officers, construction workers, volunteers, survivors, and families seeking medical care, accountability, and justice. It considers the illnesses associated with exposure to toxic dust and smoke, along with the continuing effort to secure health monitoring and financial support for those affected.…

Subsidies, War, and the American Taxpayer examines how government policies and public money support the fossil-fuel industry while ordinary taxpayers bear the financial, environmental, and human costs. The book explores tax advantages, subsidies, government programs, and other forms of assistance that help powerful energy corporations protect their profits.
The book also considers the connection between fossil fuels, American foreign policy, and military involvement in oil-producing regions. It examines how competition for energy resources can influence national priorities while public funds that could strengthen healthcare, education, infrastructure, and working families are directed elsewhere.…

From the Zoot Suit Riots to the Decline of the American Middle Class examines the relationship between race, labor, prosperity, and political power across decades of American history. Beginning with the violence against Mexican American youths in Los Angeles during the 1940s, the book explores how discrimination, biased institutions, and unequal opportunities shaped the lives of working-class communities.
The book follows the nation from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal through the postwar expansion of unions and the middle class. It considers how better wages, worker protections, public investment, and access to education helped millions of families achieve greater economic security—while racial and ethnic minorities were often denied equal access to those opportunities.…

Hank Leyvas and Sleepy Lagoon: A Chicano Civil Rights Moment examines one of the most important and disturbing civil-rights cases in Los Angeles history. In 1942, the death of José Díaz led authorities to arrest hundreds of Mexican American youths and prosecute twenty-two defendants in a racially charged mass trial. Henry “Hank” Leyvas became the central figure in a case shaped by prejudice, sensational newspaper coverage, and assumptions about Mexican American youth.…

Artificial intelligence may appear to operate in an invisible digital world, but every AI request depends on massive data centers that consume enormous amounts of electricity. AI Power Shock examines how the rapid expansion of AI is increasing pressure on power plants, transmission systems, substations, and household utility rates.

The book investigates whether ordinary customers could be forced to pay for expensive infrastructure built primarily for large technology corporations. It also explains the difference between corporate clean-energy promises and the electricity that actually powers data centers throughout the day.…

Artificial intelligence requires more than electricity. The powerful computers supporting AI produce tremendous heat, forcing many data centers to consume large quantities of water for cooling. Thirsty Machines reveals how this industrial demand could affect communities already facing drought, declining groundwater, and rising water costs.

The book explains water withdrawal, consumption, discharge, evaporative cooling, reclaimed water, and the hidden water used to generate electricity. It focuses particular attention on California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and other water-stressed areas of the American West.…

Behind digital services are industrial cooling systems, transformers, diesel generators, and other machines operating near homes, schools, and working-class communities. The Pollution Behind the Cloud investigates the health and environmental burdens hidden behind the walls of data-center campuses.

The book examines diesel exhaust, particulate pollution, nitrogen oxides, generator testing, continuous mechanical noise, and low-frequency sound. It explains why examining one pollution source at a time can conceal the cumulative burden experienced by communities already surrounded by highways, warehouses, and industrial facilities.…

Behind digital services are industrial cooling systems, transformers, diesel generators, and other machines operating near homes, schools, and working-class communities. The Pollution Behind the Cloud investigates the health and environmental burdens hidden behind the walls of data-center campuses.

The book examines diesel exhaust, particulate pollution, nitrogen oxides, generator testing, continuous mechanical noise, and low-frequency sound. It explains why examining one pollution source at a time can conceal the cumulative burden experienced by communities already surrounded by highways, warehouses, and industrial facilities.…

The environmental cost of artificial intelligence begins long before a server is installed inside a data center. AI hardware depends on copper, aluminum, steel, silicon, batteries, specialty metals, semiconductor factories, international transportation, and human labor. The Silicon Footprint follows this hidden supply chain from mines and factories to server rooms and electronic-waste facilities.

The book examines the energy, water, pollution, and working conditions connected with manufacturing advanced computer equipment. It also investigates the rapid replacement of functioning servers as technology companies compete to install faster processors and more powerful artificial-intelligence systems.…

Communities are often asked to approve enormous data-center projects without receiving enough information about electricity, water, pollution, noise, taxes, employment, or long-term financial risk. Community Power in the Age of AI gives residents and local leaders a practical method for investigating these projects and demanding enforceable protections.

The book explains how to identify decision-makers, obtain public records, evaluate technical claims, separate forecasts from binding commitments, prepare effective public comments, and demand measurable permit conditions. It also includes guidance for protecting utility customers and monitoring operations.…