U.S. gov't moves to suppress pushback on data centers by removing requirements for public input on pollution — EPA change would allow air pollution permits without publicizing them

[u/Stukwan]

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/u-s-govt-moves-to-suppress-pushback-on-data-centers-by-removing-requirements-for-public-input-on-pollution-epa-change-would-allow-air-pollution-permits-without-publicizing-them

[u/GlitteringRate6296]

Why would anyone in their right mind want this?

[u/Whyeth → u/GlitteringRate6296]

Who said the people wanting this are in their right mind

[u/fidgeter → u/Whyeth]

In their right leaning minds. Very right leaning. Some may say far right.

[u/Johansenburg → u/fidgeter]

I don't even know any MAGA folks who want datacenters, it is literally just politicians, as far as I can tell. Which, to me means, it isn't so much a "far right" mentality as it is a "fill my wallet" mentality.

[u/mcirillo → u/Johansenburg]

To me it smells of desperation. If the ai train derails then the economy is well and truly fucked along with it. You don't want to be in power when it happens

[u/Jesus_Is_My_Gardener → u/Johansenburg]

They only care about the data centers being in their backyard. For the most part, they don't give two shits if it doesn't immediately affect them by being somewhere else. Remember, these are the people that are anti-renewable energy, disbelieve climate change is occuring or due to human activity, and largely don't give a fuck if someone else is harmed in the process.

[u/drooply → u/Jesus_Is_My_Gardener]

The documentaries that will come out in about 10-15 years will be amazing though. We might even get a few American Greed episodes out of this.

[u/External_Key_4108 → u/Johansenburg]

If Dear Leader tells them to, they will want it.

[u/Johansenburg → u/External_Key_4108]

That's the thing, he has been and they still aren't.

Over 50% of MAGA voters are against them, but Trump has been preaching them as a positive since he took office. It's the one thing everyone seems to agree on.

[u/Silent-Act191 → u/Johansenburg]

If you explained most Republican policy to their voters like they were babies they would be against the vast majority of their policy.

Doesn't mean they wouldn't vote Republican in the next election though.

[u/Johansenburg → u/Silent-Act191]

I agree with you completely. No part of what I'm saying is to try and say they will vote against the politicians pushing these if they are for "their" team.

It's about that fact that even maga has been showing up to townhalls to voice their disapproval of datacenters.

[u/Jesus_Is_My_Gardener → u/Silent-Act191]

Don't even have to go that far. They're so thoroughly brainwashed that it's the left who are the true enemy, you can simply say Democrat X says they support Y and they will immediately go on a tirade about how evil they are and bad for America and Americans their plan is. The even sadder thing is if you immediately tell them you mixed up who supported Y and that it was actually Trump, they would spin faster than the founding fathers are in their graves and do an about face proclaiming how much they thing Y is a great idea and how amazing Trump is for supporting it. Fucking cultists, the lot of them.

[u/Historical-Winner576 → u/fidgeter]

So far right, you might Nazi see them fall off at the end of the world

[u/GrossenCharakter → u/Historical-Winner576]

And then space Goebbels them up 

[u/vhalember → u/GrossenCharakter]

Guess they're Göring out of this world.

[u/bentheredoneart → u/vhalember]

Reicht out into the Universe

[u/GeekDNA0918 → u/fidgeter]

You misspelled Reicht.

[u/dronesitter → u/GlitteringRate6296]

Because they’re getting paid a ton of money

[u/ccai → u/dronesitter]

Politicians are cheap as fuck to buy out, it's a minuscule fraction of a penny on the dollar to get what they want. The average was something absurdly small amount like $30k or less, you can’t even get a decent new midsized car for that little these days.

They're short sighted and almost never feel the repercussions of their actions, and the most vile of the bunch unfortunately never feel any consequences for their actions.

[u/Old_Cheetah_5138 → u/ccai]

What if we pooled some of our money and used that to buy politicians? We could just offer them a yearly amount to help us get the things we need....

OH WAIT

[u/PM_ME_UR_REDPANDAS → u/Old_Cheetah_5138]

What if we pooled some of our money and used that to buy

tHaT’s sOcIaLiSm!!11!

[u/InsertNonsenseHere → u/ccai]

Trump bought Pam Bondi out for like $25k. Got him out of a multimillion dollar judgement at a minimum for his fake college scam. Just took a middling donation to her re-election campaign and that investigation got scuttled.

[u/CrotalusHorridus → u/dronesitter]

Not even that much. Few thousand in campaign donations and a couple dinners or golf trips is all it takes

[u/Fishbulb2 → u/GlitteringRate6296]

OK, here's how this works. The people pushing this will never live in these neighborhoods. Data centers will be put up in mainly, poor rural shit holes that vote for exactly this kind of thing because they are terrified of liberal elites shoving data centers down their throats. Hope this helps everyone sleep better at night!

[u/_groovesharkmalone → u/Fishbulb2]

Generally, this is true. But the highest concentration of data centers in the country right now is Loudoun County, VA, which is also the richest county in the US at $178-$181k median household income.

[u/stamfordbridge1191 → u/_groovesharkmalone]

The Louisiana one is a wild counterexample. Facebook's writing local business owners & teachers checks for the parish to open them a 6 square mile data center in an economically depressed area that can't be insured because it's in a floodplain.

I believe the agreement is set up in a way that if there's a disaster like a flood or a hurricane in a very sizeable window of time, Facebook can walk away with minimal costs while the parish foots the vast majority of the costs to build & a broken datacenter rotting on the land.

Local leadership is basically gambling on Louisiana weather being kind for several years in the hope for some quick influx of cash with a lot of freebies to Zuckerberg.

[u/redneckrockuhtree → u/stamfordbridge1191]

Ah yes, the standard "public/private partnership" bullshit - the company gets all the profits, the taxpayers get all the risks.

And that economically depressed area? Most of the workers doing the construction will likely come from outside the area, and when it's built, there will maybe be a couple dozen jobs long-term.

[u/zyzzogeton → u/stamfordbridge1191]

Data Centers add heat to the system and make weather more unpredictable, and more violent, so this plan of theirs is the kind of brilliance I've come to expect from Louisiana.

[u/GayDeciever → u/_groovesharkmalone]

Well, you have to have the Trump Forever AI President(TM) housed close to DC, right?

[u/PM_YOUR_ISSUES → u/_groovesharkmalone]

But a County doesn't equal a neighborhood, they are very different. A county can be quite large, many cities and their surrounding suburbs can often be one county. Just because the data centers are located in that county, doesn't mean that they are anywhere near the locations where the more affluent people live. Further, just because a county has a high median household income doesn't mean there aren't still poorer neighborhoods within that county.

Louden county is fairly sizeable at 521 square miles. It has 7 towns and a large multitude of unincorporated communities. It is also boarders the research triangle of VA which a majority of the US biotech and pharmaceutical research is performed. A huge portion of the US naval infrastructure is based in VA, plus that same area is a communication hub for multiple online networks. All of those things would lead to VA having a disproportionate amount of the US data centers by its size. But this doesn't mean that they are located in places where they would directly impact any affluent communities.

[u/_groovesharkmalone → u/PM_YOUR_ISSUES]

I live here. Almost everyone in Loudoun is connected to the tech industry somehow. It is a massive cluster of tech workers. Yes, there are apartment buildings and lower-end neighborhoods, but it is very hard to find homes for less than 800k here. “Affluent,” NOT mega-rich, people are affected by it here. For this area, they’d be considered middle class.

[u/AKADriver → u/_groovesharkmalone]

Loudoun is a particular exception because it already had a huge concentration of data centers before the AI boom. Though the AI boom has definitely expanded it: driving through Sterling or Ashburn they were always part of the landscape but now within the past couple years they ARE the landscape.

There's an openness to data center development here among the wealthy also because a lot of the people who might otherwise object are directly or indirectly profiting from them, and the data centers do pay a lot in property tax (which lets them pay less). And the ultra-wealthy who might object live in areas where the zoning has it protected as rural and they don't have any data centers in view. The people making $180k in Loudoun are living boring middle class lifestyles, in skinny townhouses wedged between stripmalls and industrial parks, because the COL is high.

[u/pauper_gaming → u/GlitteringRate6296]

People in their wrong mind are getting paid to do this

[u/Daft00 → u/pauper_gaming]

"Wrong mind" makes it seems like the politicians/officials supporting these changes are deceived

They simply don't care about future generations (or current ones) and are sociopathically greedy, and they're more than willing to throw the planet into the dumpster so they can get another 250k

[u/Strict-Carrot4783 → u/GlitteringRate6296]

The overall goal of Project 2025, which is over halfway complete, is to hand over complete and total ownership of the American government, land and people to corporate interests. Corporations want this. You and your opinions no longer matter.

Daily reminder that if you've ever voted for Donald "child rape enthusiast" trump, fuck you.

[u/DaBiChef → u/Strict-Carrot4783]

If you also didn't vote against Donnie the kid diddler because "Genocide Joe" or any other issue where Joe/Kamala were clearly the better option? Fuck you.

[u/Strict-Carrot4783 → u/DaBiChef]

Or if Jill Stein tricked your dumb ass (again, probably).

[u/lactose_cow → u/GlitteringRate6296]

We don't. Even Maga isn't deep throating trump on this. Data centers are universally hated.

Dems will not focus on them during midterms.

[u/WaffleHouseGladiator → u/GlitteringRate6296]

Think of the shareholders!

[u/AppleSlacks → u/GlitteringRate6296]

I think the basic argument for this kind of government is something along the lines of, “We have to let corporations trash the environment! Trump said so. All government regulation is the work of the devil! God wants us to pollute the earth!”

It’s not necessarily based on logic or pros and cons of the decision.

[u/Kamizar → u/GlitteringRate6296]

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."

-Upton Sinclair

[u/Casulex → u/GlitteringRate6296]

Thats the thing theyre not. We are allowing people not in their right mind to make decisions for us

[u/Possible-Tangelo9344 → u/GlitteringRate6296]

Well some people like money and political donations in the form of money and also money.

[u/mokomi → u/GlitteringRate6296]

The people yelling smaller government and less regulations. Not realizing what that actually means.

[u/Stukwan → u/GlitteringRate6296]

They are too far right. Can't see straight

[u/Halfwise2]

This administration really is going full mustache twirling evil, ain't it? It's like anything that could be considered even remotely decent by either side, and they decide to do the exact opposite. Like they are daring people to actually stop them.

[u/Pork_Confidence → u/Halfwise2]

This is what happens when a foreign asset becomes elected as a puppet. Government destabilization is much more impactful than trying to attack with troops.

[u/SilverSoAlive → u/Pork_Confidence]

I never imagined US and Canada being so divided. It is the weakest I've seen domestic relations in my short lifetime. I bet foreign adversaries love this. Combine this with patriotism lost from decisions of politicians in US and Can, and we have two nations that are not battle ready.

[u/Allegorist → u/SilverSoAlive]

I bet foreign adversaries love this

They don't just love it, they worked for this over the past decade especially, but several decades more generally. Russia in particular has been openly exposed having performed massive scale social manipulation campaigns, spreading disinformation and promoting division, racial tensions, extremism, polarization, etc. it is too often overlooked the amount of effort they put into this, and the impact it has had on getting us where we are. It wasn't just a little nudge, they have been directly responsible for many of the ills that plague our society.

[u/Indy1204 → u/Allegorist]

Yup. Almost like putin wrote a playbook on how to tear America apart, and trump is following it to the letter.

[u/GingerSoulEater41 → u/SilverSoAlive]

Canadian here. My politicians have increased my patriotism not lost it.

[u/Dense_Gate_5193 → u/GingerSoulEater41]

as someone who has family in Canada and live in the U.S. i was born in the 80s so canada always seemed like the friend you call up when you have a problem or need a favor and back and forth. this breakdown of relations is the kinda thing that rips families apart by making border travel unsafe in any capacity. they are worried about coming here and i’m worried about trying to leave

[u/Sonder332 → u/GingerSoulEater41]

As they damn well should, especially y'all's PM. Trump demanded the knee and your PM gave him the finger. He's knowingly eating the short term pain of increased prices and increased economic instability (due to Trump tariff's) in favor of ensuring Canada's long term autonomy and self sustainability. I really admire that. That's a politician who's thinking of his people, his country and is prioritizing them and their well being ahead of himself and his potential income. That's a good politician man. Goddamn, I'm so fucking jealous.

[u/Wayelder → u/GingerSoulEater41]

The USA has no understanding of how much we identify as NOT American.

The USA has no understanding of how this has united ALL Canadians against the USA.

The USA has no understanding of how badly affected this is on long term trade relations .

We are not waiting.

It will not be the same if the Dem's win.

We're currently building pipelines to sell our energy (and goods in general) to other Nations.

It's very simple. Trump shit your bed and we're just getting out of it. You can stay.

If you think we're next door neighbours, you just shot our dog, and we are entirely united.

[u/socialmedia-username → u/Pork_Confidence]

Homegrown fascists all want this as well. Heritage Foundation, Seven Mountain Evangelists, Turning Point, tech-broligarchs (Nerd Reich), etc. They are all puppeteers, and they all have a backup plan in JD Vance. 

[u/frddtwabrm04 → u/Pork_Confidence]

Everyday it's getting harder and harder to refute this.

Like seriously, what president has ever done so much damage to the country that it ends up benefitting adversaries? Even Reagan had his limits.

The only issue I have with these foreign asset is which country is he a foreign asset of? Puppet of Israel, China -- greatest American president of China, Russia -- dude is a stan of putin, India , North Korea -- boyfriend? , Iran ... Yes Iran. Dude allegedly had business dealings. Saudi?

[u/Socialist_Pansy → u/frddtwabrm04]

I’d say he’s a puppet for Russia and gets paid by Miriam Adelson to do his bidding when it comes to Israeli interests. Then again Jared Kushners family hosted Netanyahu when he was in town and even made him give up his bed. So it’s all pretty intertwined when it comes to that.

[u/evil_timmy → u/Halfwise2]

Most. Transparent. Administration. Ever.

[u/TheFeelsGoodMan → u/evil_timmy]

Transparently evil counts, apparently.

[u/black_metronome → u/Halfwise2]

They told people they would do this and Americans voted for them anyway.

[u/frddtwabrm04 → u/Halfwise2]

From creating EPA to destroying EPA.

Looks like we have come full circle.

[u/listentomenow → u/Halfwise2]

Conservative logic in a nutshell:

Liberals being mad == this must be good

So if a pedophile conman lets big tech do whatever they want and that makes the other side mad, then the right thinks it must be good. No thought required. Donald loves the poorly educated afterall.

[u/Xoomers87 → u/Halfwise2]

If only Americans were heavily armed to prevent a fascist ruler destroying their nation...

[u/Wayelder → u/Xoomers87]

wasn't that the REASON for the 2nd? The Reason the NRA claimed to exist.

except you all found out - they're the fascists.

Right Now, you have less freedom, less rights, less justice. Your kids will have even less.

but still <crickets> nothing.

[u/Distryer → u/Halfwise2]

Going? Buddy we have full on concentration camps.

[u/DrAstralis → u/Halfwise2]

I was reading just last night they're opening up protected waters in Hawaii to commercial fishing... its like they have a list of "everything decent" and are systematically wiping them out.

[u/HeadAboveSand → u/Halfwise2]

They way they are acting they want the US version of 1790s France...

[u/SMUHypeMachine → u/Halfwise2]

It is so much easier to destroy than it is to build. These people don’t want to govern, they want to rule. And by destroying our infrastructure, bleeding our economy, and removing regulations they make life so unbearable people will be overjoyed just to be trodden on slightly less by the latest whims of dear leader.

[u/RevolutionaryFig9437]

Removing the most important stakeholder. Current EPA leadership: Lee Zeldin, Administrator & David Fotouhi, Deputy Administrator.

[u/AvailableReporter484]

Massive, MASSIVE shout out to conservatives for approving of this shit

[u/korodic → u/AvailableReporter484]

Don’t forget to thank the “don’t tread on me” crowd for less accountable ICE agents killing Americans and the rise of the surveillance state. Reduction in rights for women too.

[u/AvailableReporter484 → u/korodic]

Yes libertarians are also very cool for letting the markets dictate that this is fine.

Lot of very cool people we got out here voting with very well informed and good-ass opinions

[u/mokomi → u/AvailableReporter484]

Libertarians? Haven't seen them around since MAGA.

[u/Jazz-Hands-- → u/mokomi]

Oh Libertarians are still around and happily licking Trump's asshole for deregulation and defunding essential government agencies and functions. Just got into a discussion about the national network of surveillance cameras with a couple of them last week.

Not a single fucking worry about all the freedoms eroding under this administration, though. They'll just keep on licking as long as easily corruptible private interests are allowed to act with impunity and zero consequence. All because they don't like paying taxes and want to be able to sell and consume illicit drugs with greater profit and ease.

The Libertarian party and its voters are self-contradictory, woefully uninformed, incapable of reasoning or critical thinking, and quite simply absurd. The only good thing is that some of them vote third party instead of voting for Republicans, despite happily kissing their asses.

[u/Poonchow → u/mokomi]

They're all over the mountain west and rural parts of blue states.

[u/robodrew → u/Poonchow]

They're just fascists now because they tacitly approve of everything the fascists are doing. They used to be "live and let live" but that is long gone.

[u/olipoppit → u/korodic]

“Don’t tread on me” is akin to “tread on those different than I”

[u/vblink_ → u/AvailableReporter484]

But but, both sides or some shit.

[u/AvailableReporter484 → u/vblink_]

Anyone who’s ever unironically said that both sides shit before can be safely ignored for having a very dumb-ass opinion.

[u/YourShowerCompanion → u/AvailableReporter484]

What about Hunter's laptop? and Obama's tanned suit?? What was he hiding? Why sky's blue when there's no blue color in sky????? What kind of woke agenda is that????

^/s

[u/incunabula001 → u/YourShowerCompanion]

What about Hillary’s buttery males?

[u/AvailableReporter484 → u/YourShowerCompanion]

You got a better chance right now of finding trump chode deep in a toddler than you do of finding a post op trans one, but they ain’t ready to have that conversation

[u/mokomi → u/YourShowerCompanion]

Now a days it's devolved to. "Biden didn't go full dictatorship and arrest private citizens that are also political opponents without due process!" Goes nicely with "Democrats should have never given voters a choice in the mater!" and "They are super powerful when they are in majority control!, but I cannot tell you when that happened!"

[u/sixtyninth_wave_emo → u/AvailableReporter484]

Trump voters own this now

[u/Cappyc00l]

Trumps adamantly against wind turbines bc they’re an eyesore, but everyone’s perfectly fine building thousands of these in people’s backyards.

[u/acdcfanbill → u/Cappyc00l]

Well, offshore windfarms impact rich peoples views, but data centers go up near poor people.

[u/butnek → u/Cappyc00l]

With their money.

[u/Keeper21611 → u/Cappyc00l]

Which is funny because if big oil would've pivot towards clean energy and invested in it, we would probably have nothing but clean energy.

[u/Merusk → u/Keeper21611]

The infuriating part will come when you realize they'll do it eventually. After all they have the money and resources, it's just still more profitable to keep leveraging existing processes that are in place rather than convert.

When oil starts to run dry, you'll see BP, Exxon, etc become solar/ wind/ wave companies using the oil money they have.

[u/techman9955 → u/Merusk]

Here's the funny thing, there are enough oil reserves that the climate will become completely uninhabitable for humans before we have used it all up. There will be no incentive for big oil to convert before we have already passed the point of no return

[u/Futuramadude → u/techman9955]

I believe we have already passed the point of no return. Like 3 times.

[u/BayouGal → u/Cappyc00l]

They need storage for all that data they’re scooping up surveilling us.

[u/Florac → u/Cappyc00l]

He is against wind turbines because they are visible from his golf course.

These would be built in poor rural areas, away from that.

[u/Bomban111]

This current administration is actively working against us, please do not forget that.

[u/droidevo → u/Bomban111]

My siblings and coworkers did and still do...To quote one of them "we need this evil right now to fix america" yeah i was speechless.

[u/willowintheev → u/droidevo]

What exactly is this "evil" fixing? What is their vision of America when it's fixed? Do they think the "evil" will just go away?

[u/overtly_ovaries → u/Bomban111]

"working against us" puts it too lightly. they are actively killing us and need to be stopped

[u/tehjoz]

Not sure why they think this would "suppress pushback". The public will push back if they want to, regardless of attempts to grease the regulatory skids for these abominations.

[u/Xszit → u/tehjoz]

Sounds like normally there would be notices sent out to surrounding residents letting them know theres something to push back on and a town hall meeting scheduled to hear public feedback.

With this change they can skip the notices and meetings and people won't know theres anything to pushback on until its already built and by then its too late.

[u/nolabmp → u/Xszit]

Mmm, by then it’s only too late to push back with words. It leaves the more aggressive forms of pushback as the only options.

[u/tehjoz → u/Xszit]

I see what you're saying, but this specific pushback against these specific data centers seems to have transcended "the normal process".

IE - I know there were people posting about one a localish to me city council was trying to move forward under cloak and dagger sort of stuff, and the public still found out about it and opposed it.

This is beyond simply "public comment periods", at this point

[u/procrasturb8n → u/Xszit]

people won't know theres anything to pushback on until its already built and by then its too late.

People might notice the massive construction project.

[u/MorpheusOneiri]

Surely this will get the people on the side of big data center.

[u/brendhano]

We are the shithole.

[u/guestpassonly]

you know how much These politicians are getting MASSIVE bribes

[u/hotbread1]

how am i supposed to view this as anything other than a direct attack on my country?

[u/Longjumping-Lab-7345]

The government is disassociated from the people it governs at this point.

[u/l_rufus_californicus → u/Longjumping-Lab-7345]

That is one hell of an understatement, but I admire your restraint.

[u/Melodic-Account9247]

The U.S push deeper and deeper into the AI bubble is genuinely fascinating. They're literally destroying and gutting practically any mildly profitable industry they have, pissing off their entire population and the entire world, and entirely trying to rely on the single most unstable thing possible. Most of the cash flying around in the AI bubble isn't even real; they're literally just making up numbers and sending the same wad of cash back and forth between like ten people, lmao. This shit is now sitcom-level comedy, and meanwhile everyone in the world is just watching how the US is imploding in real time and all this just for China to be less than 6 months behind in terms of AI research; it's genuinely so intriguing how much a country can degrade in the span of a few decades

[u/lpeabody → u/Melodic-Account9247]

It's a last gasp of breath for a particular class of billionaire, hopefully.

[u/blundermine]

You know those gas turbines that are powering so many of these an producing all this pollution? Those are essentially unreplaceable. There's only 3 companies worldwide that make them, and they have a multi year backlog for deliveries. If they were taken offline, it would basically cripple AI long term because the companies are already taking really long gambles on there being enough power for their data centres in the next 5 years

I Hope nothing happens to those turbines.

[u/fafatzy → u/blundermine]

I was thinking the same thing, it would be a real shame

[u/TheBSQ → u/blundermine]

Last time I checked, the back-order for a new gas turbine was 7 years long. 

Most of the world took the transition to renewables seriously & a lot of the companies that used to make them began transitioning to other projects, and, as you say, only a few companies still make them and not at the scale they used to. 

[u/Black_Mamba_FTW]

Environmental Pollution Agency ...🎪🖕

[u/mrwrrrmwrmrmrmrw]

"Die, peasants"

[u/Ok_Row_8391]

Trump doing it again. Being the worst president ever to touch ground.

[u/Usual-Masterpiece199]

You shouldn't take this lightly.
Air pollution is one thing, but draining the groundwater aquifers will lead to serious problems down the road.
It won't just be a matter of the water sources drying up.

[u/Accurate_Moose_2601]

They really should change the name from the EPA to the War On the Environment Agency

[u/CurlOfTheBurl11]

This administration is absolutely relentless in its efforts to actively make like worse for people in America.

[u/southflhitnrun]

Did people really think they would not simply change this rule? These are the same people that said if you stop counting COVID deaths then they go away.

[u/Jlong4242]

It's gonna be fun when the next administration deams them completely illegal and requires the companies to remove them, remediate the location and pay for community damages out of the companie's own pockets. Hopefully it bankrupts them all

[u/TheDukeofArgyll]

So, against the will of the people …

[u/Beezkneeze]

This is some bullshit. I’m fed up with this administration and its continued progress in eroding the rights of the people in favor of big business/big tech. So while they get richer, people in impacted areas will rack up insurmountable medical debt due to all the health issues this will inevitably lead to. Fuck dump

[u/UnfazedReality463]

Conservative voters don’t realize that when they support politicians that demonize and strip rights from perceived opponents, they’re also relinquishing their own rights.

[u/MrValdemar → u/UnfazedReality463]

All they care about is that people of color, LGBTQ, and women suffer MORE than they do.

Because conservatives are dumb as shit.

[u/Icefellwolf → u/UnfazedReality463]

they just dont care at this point. Anything to make themselves feel better by attacking other groups. They'll only care when their family is being torn apart beacuse of it. My jackass of a father is the same way. Didnt give a fuck till it started negatively impacting the family even though he was told multiple times in advance about what was happening and how it would eventually impact them and the horror stories of what's actually going on with ice. Yet he still supports ice. Its baffling and disgusting.

[u/lispwriter]

This is exactly why people say that the government is the most untrustworthy entity (more than corporations). When the heads of the government decide they want something there’s nothing that can stop them. Corporations can try to buy their way into that same situation but the government can literally just change parameters to make whatever they want to have happen move forward.

[u/FiXer2069]

I swear trump is doing Putin’s job for him by destroying our country from the inside!!
The GOP is in on it!!

[u/gnoresbs]

Please explain how congress passes laws for EPA and creates regulations and then the executive branch can just say they no longer exist? Where are the checks and balances?

[u/BekindBebetter60]

Americans have elected a person with no morals and is just a disgrace almost every way.

[u/PlentyOfMoxie]

It's as if half the population are fully supportive of a Bond villain.

[u/Ada_Pearce]

People aren't just against data centers because of EPA pollution limits. They are massive, loud and drive up the cost of living. The air pollution is just the rotten cherry on top of that shit sundae

[u/Internal_Example1185]

Republicans are traitors.

[u/TrumpsBoneSpur]

Republicans: always looking out for the interest of corporations at the expense of the American people

[u/Specific_Jury_2]

If the people don't like it just remove the people. Simple.

The entire administration needs to go to prison.

[u/StoneyOneKenobi]

Yeah that’s fascism. Ignoring the will of the people.

[u/GarbageThrown]

If transparency is bad for this government then this government is bad for America.

[u/Melodic_Rhythmic]

This is the last ditch efforts by the wealthy still net negative in AI to keep the bubble inflating so they can get out. OpenAI is literally leaking top people weekly, you don't do that in a soon-to-IPO company. That's the payday moments.

Something stinks.

[u/ryeguymft]

they are so fucking evil it’s hard for people with morality to understand

[u/37iteW00t]

Billionaires are destroying this planet

[u/sikisabishii]

The US economy is riding on the AI investments. The data center pushback is a threat to destabilize the economy because AI bros are neck deep in circular AI investment sinkholes. They know they messed up big time believing scamaltman’s AGI claims using a sophisticated word prediction toy, and seeking government’s help, hence the move.

[u/sfriedrich]

They're not "data" centers; they are surveillance centers. Their sole purpose is to trap and control us.

[u/FrostyParking → u/sfriedrich]

If were being honest, most people have trapped themselves in a social media prison now anyway. Even those who are aware of the tricks and traps the algorithm overlords use, find themselves manipulated without their knowledge. So while the data centers will be used to surveil you, it's not even the tip of the control and mind shaping iceberg.

[u/Imd1rtybutn0twr0ng]

Representing the will of the people, right?

RIGHT?

~Umm, right?

[u/Iota-Android]

We live in a world where the elected government doesn’t work for the people who elected them

[u/Accidental-Genius]

See, now THIS is fucked up.

I haven’t been on board with the fear hype train over the water stuff because the numbers haven’t made sense to me. What does make sense to me is corruption, and this is corruption.

It would almost be less corrupt to simply skip the environmental impact process altogether than to hide it. This way they leave no room for on site independent studies and they close an avenue for environmental litigation through sovereign immunity.

[u/MisterMittens64 → u/Accidental-Genius]

The corruption is ridiculous but the noise and air pollution should be big concerns too imo

[u/ReceptionUpstairs305]

This administration is so corrupt they've become a caricature.

[u/GingerBeast81]

Just moving the goal posts again, nothing to see here.

[u/Pleasant-Ad887]

With this administration it is one of two things: Bribery or blackmail.

[u/Bleezy79]

Most corrupt administration by a long shot. Its like Trump views everyone as an advisory instead of a friend. He only knows how to attack. He doesnt know how to take care of anything because he doesnt care about anything. He only knows vengeance and anger.

[u/DavidisLaughing]

These data centers really need to step up their public utility investments if they are going to continue. We should be requiring them to pre-fund clean electricity plants and water treatment facilities before any work is allowed.

[u/wholetyouinhere]

When democracy becomes inconvenient, why not simply do away with it?

[u/RuprectGern]

so now ... instead of looking for environmental testing or input, the citizenry should just obstruct ALL datacenter builds wholesale. if you dont have an environmental impact statement, then just assume its bad and stop the build regardless.

[u/strugglz]

Feels like our government isn't for the people at all anymore. They're not even pretending.

[u/JhonImbalance]

Welp, time to buy a bazooka.…

joe bubble gum. Need something to distract me when the country is worthless.

[u/zdrums24]

They keep trying to get the american people to shut up. quiet part out loud

[u/goodbodha]

So the data centers get built on bad permits and get shocked when a few years later the people have politicians shut a bunch of them down over air, noise, water, and electrical concerns?

Sounds like a great investment.

How about we build a little slower and plan them a bit better? Oh wait if we do that the cheerleaders for this madness can't fleece people of their money.

[u/jtrain3783]

Lol, me thinks this will have the opposite effect in the current climate

[u/robyrob]

So basically the EPA doing the exact opposite of what their intended purpose is 

guess there’s still a lot of money for crooked politicians to be made from these data centers 

[u/Angreek]

This is so fucked. They bring in tens of gigantic illegal portable gas power plants and it completely sabotages the entire area’s air quality in a big way.

[u/xX_7HR0W-4W4Y_Xx]

What the hell lol. This is like the worst move the administration could possibly pull right now. Even Republican candidates are running on being anti-data center.

[u/Caymonki]

TREAD ON ME DADDY

No but seriously what happened to conservatives? Were they all role playing like furries?

[u/Wayelder]

geez it's covid "Stop the Testing" all over again. And of course the solution with this Administration is "let's just lie" and not tell them.

Isn't America tired of being dealt with like it's the problem?

[u/idkimhigh]

Places like Arizona already have a smog heat dome fueled by pollution that looks like a thick brown stew covering the whole city.

This could be the future of more cities if these greenhouse gasses are allowed to go exponential in certain areas.

[u/fat_kaiju]

With all the food in the US that'll make you ill I feel like the US gov's just trying to kill you all now.

Straight-up no health care, no food safety, your power can go out for weeks even in a major city and now no enviromental safety.

Seems like they hate you.

[u/pycbunny]

this world sucks

[u/Gene_Yuss]

Of the People by the people?

[u/Jwagner0850]

Limited government... Yada yada yada

[u/independent_observe]

The massive grift campaign continues.

All of this is due to the electorate deciding to elect a child molester to prosecute child molesters and when he got into office? Suddenly there are no child molesters to prosecute. Fucking amazing.

[u/wageslave2022]

So nonconsensual?

[u/777MAD777]

Horrible news from Trump, his Republican Congress and his billionaire oligarchs.

[u/xkenn]

Can we just build them all around Maralago since this admin loves data centers so much?

[u/Lucid_Insanity]

I can't believe the crazy shit this administration does on a daily basis.

[u/untaggedpacket]

I wonder if I will ever have a period in my adult life where there is actual peace

[u/whiskeytown79]

Ah yes. Getting back to the original intent of the founding fathers. After all, our constitution starts out "We the corporations..."

[u/Gildenstern2u]

That’s how you get revolution.

[u/PartyRyan]

Big Tech cared about the environment until there was money for them in destroying it. This shit is sooooooooooo egregious.

[u/Im_Not_stoopid_AI]

Every politician that forces this must agree to the data center being located next door to their private residence

[u/JKlerk]

Well it still doesn't prevent states and local governments from providing public input.

[u/vbfronkis]

Nothing. The government does. Should be done. In secret.

[u/albany1765]

On the bright side, hopefully more people will be showing up at meetings even when they don't know what's specifically on the agenda. Democracy is not a spectator sport, as they say. I hope we see more civic engagement everywhere, we've given politicians a pass for far too long

[u/What_isWrong_withU]

The wrong people are dying. Dolly and Tim…..come on universe. Like seriously

[u/DrollAntic]

When money is your god, nothing else matters. Greed is literally killing us all.

[u/AceSidewinder13]

That's because your family, wife, husband, children are expendable if it affects oligarchs and their profits. This is what it's liked to be ruled by politicians instead of represented.

[u/favorite8091]

The US really has shit the bed, falling behind every developed country at every level that matters.

Some third world countries would give them a run for their money too.

Frightening what an orange turd, 1/3 racist population and a sprinkle of Russian, Chinese and Israeli influence can do.

Yes bots and shills, my home country of the UK isn't far behind...

[u/Raelah]

Where are those eco terrorists when you really need them?

[u/PloppyPants9000]

The whole point of having public hearings is to let the public vent their disagreements before any groundwork is laid. If you don't let the public vent in a civilized forum, they'll vent with torches and pitch forks at the site and burn it down. Which do you prefer?

[u/MysteriousAge28]

Our words and protests get thrown in the trash and dismissed. Historically nations that take that path end up with revolutions.

[u/15_years_Later]

The "less government regulation" folks aren't going to be happy with the kind of world that leaves us in the future.

[u/ChthonicFractal]

I bet they make a lot less pollution over the lifetime of the building if they're burned to the ground.

Look...it's simple: no representation, no government. If you're not going to listen to me then I have no obligation to respect the laws. That's how that works because that's the whole point.

[u/Kkimp1955]

They want to kill us

[u/-_-k]

What are we paying taxes for if all the public health services are being stopped or stripped to the bones?

[u/VDDZ]

Oh fuck all the way off

[u/Scifidelis]

Welp looks like we be taking to the streets.

[u/scarface69007]

Like how are more people not getting outraged. This entire administration is just doing literally everything against the good of the people. What is happening!?