Big Tech's ugly data centers finally meet the opposition

It appears that folks living in the gently rolling farmland of southwestern Ohio don't want a 2-million-square-foot data center plopped down the road from their front porches. What's wrong with them? Are they snotty not-in-my-backyard liberals? Not quite. Wilmington, Ohio, is a very Republican region marked by modest incomes. Such demographics may have made the locals, and other rural Americans, look like an easy sale to the tech companies hunting for places to plop their massive data centers. Amazon Web Services, which is proposing this nine-building data center on about 500 acres of a former farm, has its boosters hard at work. The project would create up to 100 full-time jobs, they say. It could also pay for up to $35 million in improving public infrastructure (much of which may not be needed in the absence of a massive data center). The JobsOhio website crows that data centers "create positive economic momentum" by generating jobs and attracting talented people -- people the locals may never have noticed were missing. Touting "100 jobs" could also be read as "only 100 jobs?" The controversies in southwestern Ohio are being repeated in rural communities across the country. Their land is cheap, incomes are not great and their local officials seem not too picky about "economic development." In addition, some states like Ohio are waving big tax incentives at Big Tech. It seems that many rural Americans regard modest incomes as the "price" they willingly pay to live in "God's country." Some families have been there for generations, and many want to keep it peaceful for future generations. No doubt artificial intelligence is taking over. Americans can't stop it and shouldn't want to. It will be essential for national security and economic survival. AI needs these data centers for power. But it does not follow that the human beings living in their path should have no say on how this all develops. Wisconsin voters have been presented with four local ballot measures designed to rein in data center projects. One that already passed gives the public more control over incentives officials may offer developers. Maine is the first state to pass a law halting big data-center construction for over a year. I'm not a fan of class warfare. BUT, there is something unfair about the superrich dumping things they don't want to be near on economically struggling communities without giving a lot back. Amazon zillionaire Jeff Bezos keeps his main mansion on Indian Creek Island, near Miami Beach. This exclusive paradise limits building heights to two stories, lot coverage to 25%. Residents may have only two accessory buildings for those essential cabanas, boat houses and such. A little bridge connects Indian Creek Island to Miami's barrier island. People using that bridge are screened. Bezos cleverly threw out a distraction from Amazon's building plans by suggesting that data centers be put in outer space. That is in a far and, perhaps, never-gonna-happen future. For now, Ohio farm country is the plan. As for Donald Trump, he's all for building "colossal data centers" and fast. His administration has moved to speed permits for the centers themselves and the infrastructure they need. As for quality-of-life concerns, Trump limits them to within his own environment. In pre-presidential days, Trump called for moving the Palm Beach airport because he didn't like the jet noise over Mar-a-Lago. Some data center foes make cost-of-living arguments against them. The centers' ravenous energy needs could raise local electricity rates. However, that could be countered by the tax revenues the centers would generate. Decisions on placing them should be based on more than the locals' cost of living. There are other values. Follow Froma Harrop on X @FromaHarrop.