What We’re Reading– this St. Louis Post-Dispatch op-ed from MRCC member Tom Westoff about the Montgomery County fight against the hyperscale data centers threatening their farmland, water and power grid.
“I don’t see much benefit for myself or my neighbors in this race for more artificial intelligence (AI). Rather, I see substantial downsides and potential ruin for our rural county, which is home to so many small to mid-sized family farmers.”
“State legislatures all over the country are considering moratoriums on construction of new data centers until common sense safeguards can be put in place. I think this is wise. Along with hundreds of my fellow Montgomery County neighbors, thousands of Missourians across the state, and the family farmers non-profit organization Missouri Rural Crisis Center, I call upon our elected officials to slow down their embrace of dangerous AI data centers in this state.”
” Like many of our neighbors, we don’t want our county to be completely transformed by rampant development of data centers.”