Who Can Farmers Trust on Data Center Debate?

Letter to Philippians: As Trump makes the case for building more data centers – “Taxes, Jobs & Beating China to AI Punch,” one wonders in the anti-center blowback if he’s just fighting farmers at Old MacDonald’s Farm or far-left’s usual activists & doomsayers…

Per Fox News: “As the development of data centers continues to grow into one of the top hot button political issues in the US, some experts are sounding the alarm on the various left-wing groups & climate activists who are pouring money & resources into data center opposition campaigns.” Larry Behrens, communications director at Poer the Future said: “It’s a playbook we’ve seen before. Americans saw this with the Dakota Access Pipeline. They see this with oil & natural gas production withing the US. This seemingly grassroots organization pops up, yet they’re all wearing the same T-shirts. They’re all singing the same [songs] … and carrying the same signs …” Also, we’re told, anything but new are those funding the non-grassroots groupies. According to Fox, “Several left-wing organizations have benefited from progressive funding networks, including Public Citizen, which has listed George Soros’ Open Society Foundations ... and the Sierra Club, which received $3.6M from Arabella Avisors’ Sixteen Thirty Fund” in recent years. Then, there’s pro-China Code Pink, which has reportedly funneled “roughly $285M into 6 activist nonprofits as the US & China battle for global AI dominance.”

Of course, more data centers & the downsides they can trigger are as inevitable as the Internet was. Trump’s endorsement notwithstanding, many farmers are rightly worried of the various negative impact a massive data center can have on their nearby homes, businesses or way of life. Yet, why can't the inevitable pain data centers can bring likewise be manageable? Isn't this where the local & state representatives they voted into office come into play? Frankly, do they have any choice but to trust those reps to protect their interests, not any conflicted activist? Is it not the former, rather than the latter, who is most likely to make any new data center project proposed a “win-win” proposition if not a clear-cut “win” for them as Mr. Trump says it can be?

Davd Soul