Dear Friends and Virginians:
The last few months have seen one of the sharpest U-turns in American political history, as elected officials — who formerly fell at the feet of data center developers — are now suddenly opposed to those earth-hugging giant boxes.
Four years ago, there were nearly zero supporters on my bill to put modest controls on data centers (h/t Danica Roehm). It died on a 12-3 vote in the Rules Committee, where it had been deposited by my own Caucus leadership.
A few months later, I was hired to slow down the Digital Gateway project, which sought to put 37 data centers by the historic Manassas Battlefield. We reached out to every Virginia lawmaker on Capitol Hill. Guess how many returned our call? (It rhymes with “hero”)
Now standing up to data centers is all the rage. What happened?
Lots of talk about enviro factors: water, power lines, noise. But in my mind, the answer is more human: data centers are ugly and they represent an intimidating future where knowledge and effort are replaced by an algorithm.
Let’s start with beauty. For all of history, man has been defined by what he builds: for the Egyptians, it was the pyramids, for medieval Christian, cathedrals, for Americans, soaring skyscrapers like the World Trade Center.
These buildings defined our world. Their construction thrilled us; their destruction shocked us.
Second, the data center boom is driven by AI, which has pushed the stock market to dizzying heights. (For those of us who lived through the “dot com” boom of the late Nineties, this is familiar territory). But there is doubt.
Yes, the US should lead the world in technology. But what is the final goal for AI: are we trying to make ourselves irrelevant? What controls exist to ensure that creative and critical thinking remain essentially human activities?
In terms of the legal choices, I believe in “an equal playing field” for all industries.
That means ending the data center sales tax exemption which is currently costing the state $2 billion a year. Also data centers should provide for their own power and water, so they don’t starve neighboring communities. A data center moratorium is more problematic, if only because there are so many permitted or “by right” projects already in the pipeline. (The critical issue will be powering them all).
Regardless, it’s fascinating to see data centers at the heart of a national conversation on energy, environment and ethics.
Who knew??!!
JCP Notes: I will give the 10,000th shout-out to one of the great Americans of our time: Dolly Parton. Sharon and I saw Dolly on a summer night in July 2011 at Wolf Trap, when Sharon was 8 months’ pregnant with Ida Grace. Dolly was funny, irreverent, and inspirational. RIP, legend.
Peace,
Chap