Towns rebel against data center projects
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Voters in a small Missouri town, unhappy with the city council’s approval of a $6 billion data center, struck back at the polls last week, ousting all four incumbent council members running for reelection.
On the same day as the Festus election, voters in Port Washington, Wisconsin, a Milwaukee suburb, where tech giants Oracle and OpenAI are building a $15 billion data center campus, also registered their disapproval by overwhelmingly passing a first-of-a-kind referendum to restrict future projects. At least three other cities across the country will vote on similar measures this year.
The rout of half the Festus City Council was fueled by a surge in voter turnout and widespread frustration with the data center approval process.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/04/13/missouri-city-council-data-center-00867259
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Ax, I am operating under the hypothetical that your question is Socratic.
Disclaimer- I don't, in fact, know exactly how to interpret it.
In any case, here is my reply-
Your question implies that everything in your list previous to data centers drew opposition that was not rational.
The following points stand out to me-
i. It is completely rational to oppose detention centers. Studies have been done showing that these detention centers share the same architecture as slave ships and concentration camps.
The harsh reality, also, is that they include rooms where firearms can be used to shoot people, and they contain incinerators.
They, also, burden the infrastructure of their localities with demands for water and electricity use without urban planning is advance.
ii. It is completely rational to oppose data centers. Please see my last point above.
Thanks for your thought provoking question.
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Data centers are great as long the developers pay their fair share of cost, the installations pay normal property tax, normal permit/impact fees, that there is sufficient water/power available to run the plant and/or the developer pays the full cost of the infrastructure improvement required.
Unfortunately, a lot of data center projects don’t meet those requirements.
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Yes, but they also do have toxic emissions making residents of surrounding areas ill.
It's my understanding at least, and I could be wrong, that there isn't enough water or electricity. Also, many parts of the country are experiencing draught. I don't disagree with you on this point.
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Link to video
I can't vouch for this. I didn't watch it. But is says data center emissions are making people ill. I've seen this point made by about 50 sources.
It is definitely rational to oppose them/ the way this is being done.
It's clearly top down and "screw the public" decision making.
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Texas Republicans have a data center problem
Data center construction is unpopular among locals, and a majority of the facilities are being proposed in red, rural counties. That puts Texas Republicans in a tough spot, as the White House has encouraged states to let the centers flourish.
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/05/07/texas-republicans-data-centers-rural/
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It's absolutely rational. Skyrocketing utility bills for starters. Degradation of environment. Competition for scarce resources like water. For what? So billionaires can impose their idea of utopia (read "$$$") on society, which will lead to job losses, more stupidity, invasion of privacy, ad nauseam.
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Festus is in the French part of Missouri. They are known for being contrary.
The first European settlement west of the Mississippi was in Ste. Genivieve, south of Festus. -
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Thankfully, our Governor (R) is coming out against them in NH. I wish she had also pointed out that nobody knows what they are doing, as another good reason for opposing them.
In an interview for "CloseUp," Ayotte declared herself no big fan of building massive data centers in New Hampshire.
Ayotte cites energy costs in opposing massive data centers in New Hampshire
Going back almost a century, if not further, stories of dystopian society were warning of the dangers that could come. What astounds me is that so many are embracing AI with open arms while allowing lunatic tech firms to call the shots without any government regulation being put in place. It really astounds me.
Then this...
Pity the poor AI datacenters facing ‘discrimination’
“I do guess a lot of the world gets covered in datacenters over time,” [Sam] Altman said. “But I don’t know because maybe we put them in space … I wish I had, like, more concrete answers for you, but like, we’re stumbling through this.”
Really!? Covering the earth with datacenters posing a possible existential threat to humanity is something we're willing to "stumble through" and accept guesses as good enough!?!? How did we ever get to this point?
At least one potential data center developer has hinted that data centers should have legal personhood status. Fine, then when the "intelligent" center(s) cause death (as they already have), bring them to court for murder and shut them down for depraved indifference.
"Tech bros" should not be calling the shots, whether they are billionaires or not.
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There's one being built in Utah (What is it with Utah?) that's bigger than x Walmarts (I can't remember what x is but, um, many). It's going to produce enough heat and emissions to kill all of the wildlife in the valley where it is being built.
If that’s the one I’m thinking of it’s actually the size of Manhattan!
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If that’s the one I’m thinking of it’s actually the size of Manhattan!
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