By Joe Schaller
Guest Columnist
What America is building with data center infrastructure is the equivalent of the electrical grid in the early 20th century. People were opposed to that too before finally realizing the benefits far outweighed any harm. Is there valid data center concern or is it a manufactured panic built on absurd lies and the same old enemies of American progress?
“Controversial” and “degradation of the environment” were claims made in a New Mexico publication regarding the proposed Teraplex Artificial Intelligence Data Center for Gallup. At a recent city council meeting “They’re going to ruin our sky. They’re going to ruin the dirt. They’re going to ruin the precious breath that I have left,” were emotional platitudes reminiscent of the misguided Sustainable Gallup Board’s curbside recycling proposal 11 years ago in which, after a long line of appeals to save the planet, I personally slammed the door shut with a comprehensive study, analysis, and reality check of what still is a bad idea. Sober intellect won that day over emotional virtue-signaling. By contrast, we are now being presented with an opportunity to navigate and experience the successful track record of free market environmentalism.
I felt compelled to grill Artificial Intelligence with dozens of questions to objectively separate fact from fiction regarding pros and cons of A.I. data centers. As a result, I found absolutely nothing controversial unless you consider the emissions of clear odorless carbon dioxide to be a toxin, or its consequential increase in crop yields and global greening to be alarming.
From my research I was able to conclude that successful data center construction in small communities is a matter of negotiation skills. Smart people negotiating can create a motherlode of wealth for a community and do it with a near-zero eco-footprint. Here’s some information the Chicken Little opposition might want to digest:
Water: A single large, hyperscale A.I. data center consumes roughly the same amount of water as a typical 18-hole golf course. In Gallup, we would be recycling plentiful effluent water that otherwise would drain into the Perky. Smart lawyers will negotiate the sale of that sustainable water source. Considering no impact on aquifers, water usage is clearly not an issue.
Energy: Thanks to natural gas, the U.S. lowered its carbon dioxide emissions more than renewable energy intensive (and very costly) Europe. A Teraplex natural gas power plant fueling the data center will release near-zero particulate matter pollution (smog) – nearly as benign as nuclear. Here in the most energy-impoverished region in the country a low pollutant power plant might also provide Gallup and the Navajo Nation electricity if negotiated smartly. It certainly won’t be a burden to our present electrical grid. Another win for the environment.
Revenue: Many small-town data centers generate millions in tax revenue and help local municipal budgets balloon, funding schools, police force, libraries, medical centers, and roads without raising taxes and even lowering them on residents. They have accomplished all that through artful negotiations. Examples include Jay Maine, Quincy Wa., Umatilla Or., DeKalb Il., Social Circle Ga., and many more.
Jobs: The construction phase creates hundreds of high-paying trade jobs. Once operational, they support local vendors, security firms, and maintenance contractors. Data centers typically employ hundreds of permanent workers once construction finishes.
Secondary Economic Growth: Tech hubs can attract additional corporate investment, hotel stays, retail development, and the potential to attract allied tech companies. Communities can also leverage developers to fund local A.I. workforce training academies and community improvement projects.
China’s Opposition: Similar to Russia’s opposition to U.S. fracking in 2014, it is not surprising that investigations reveal foreign-funded dark money and Non-Governmental Organizations tied to China have helped fund and organize local grassroots pushback propaganda against A.I. data center proposals. The New Mexico Environmental Law Center is one of those traitors. Meanwhile, China is heavily subsidizing its own A.I. data center operations at a huge ecological cost. A.I. exposes the true identities of alarmist NGOs such as NMELC as Neo-Marxist social justice racketeers posing as concerned environmentalists. (“Environmental racism”? Please.)
We have an element of Chicken Littles here in one of the least polluted countries on Earth who create imaginary environmental threats from largely imaginary versions of big tech enemies they can fight so that they can feel like heroes that they’ll never be. They make threats, yet as the evidence clearly shows, they hold no water.
With data center proposals it’s all a matter of negotiation. Whether the results are win-win depends entirely on how effectively our local governments bargain hardline contracts with the leverage they possess. I assume that would require a team of smart lawyers and experienced negotiators. Data centers can effectively lower residential property taxes and lower energy bills if the tech companies are not granted massive, open-ended tax breaks. Long-term economic windfalls can be transformative. Imagine 50+ vacant commercial and industrial properties (many of them eyesores) across Gallup revitalized.
Gallup and Diné turned their backs on Walt Disney in 1951 and ever since we have dropped the ball developing a sustainable tourist industry. We became complacent as the most government-dependent region in the nation, passively living off the handouts of others. But federal assistance is not a permanent fixture, and industry is hard to attract with our dead last national rating on the economic freedom index. It’s high time we take a big leap forward for independence and self-sufficiency with this low risk/big reward gift horse proposal. It only takes smart people negotiating the art of the deal.
The art: Think big. Create leverage. Maximize options. Control the Narrative. Everything is negotiable.
