Public sentiment against data centers is running high this election season, leaving politicians of all stripes scrambling to respond. We look at how this is playing out in Pennsylvania.
Transcript
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
The public backlash to data centers is moving so fast that politicians have been rushing to keep up. In Pennsylvania, Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro is running for reelection. Both he and Stacy Garrity, his Republican opponent, have been trying to respond to this backlash. Kat Bolus from member station WVIA in Pittston, Pennsylvania, has this report.
KAT BOLUS, BYLINE: Just over a year ago, Governor Josh Shapiro touted the investment of some $20 billion by Amazon to build data centers in the state.
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JOSH SHAPIRO: For too long, we’ve watched as towns across Pennsylvania got hollowed out and left behind. No more. Now is our time to rebuild those communities and invest in them.
BOLUS: The next day, State Treasurer Stacy Garrity celebrated the Amazon investment. She posted on X, it will create thousands of jobs for Pennsylvanians. She’s running against Shapiro now. On Talk Radio 1210 WPHT in Philadelphia, she mentioned areas of rural Pennsylvania and said…
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STACY GARRITY: What perfect places to put data centers.
BOLUS: That was last year. Now around 100 data centers are proposed across the state. Pennsylvanians packed meeting halls to demand their lawmakers slow down the industry. And in the governor’s race, Garrity has now called for a pause on data centers.
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GARRITY: A pause doesn’t mean you have to pause for a year. A pause means you have to pause to make sure that you get it right to make sure that there’s balance.
BOLUS: As for Shapiro, he’s called for new data center regulations. In May, he was in Archbald, Pennsylvania, where several data centers are being considered.
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SHAPIRO: It is clear to me that there are real concerns in the communities all across Pennsylvania, especially here in Archbald. And I want you to know that I have real concerns as well.
BOLUS: Last month, he signed an executive order requiring data center companies to be more transparent, pay for their energy needs and protect the environment. And he referred back to that Amazon deal that he said would rebuild communities.
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SHAPIRO: Since then, we have seen an unacceptable number of speculative proposals for data center development that is swamping our commonwealth, many of them led by developers who have no regard for local communities.
BOLUS: Chris Borick is a political science professor at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
CHRIS BORICK: And what happened, I think, to not only Garrity and Shapiro, but almost any elected official, was that they were caught off guard in some ways by the speed and intensity of the shift in public attitudes.
BOLUS: Across the country, from Democrat Kathy Hochul in New York to Texas Republican Greg Abbott, governors have been calling to slow down data center development. Here’s Borick again.
BORICK: And you look at almost any polling metric right now in Pennsylvania and beyond, and it’s clear that people are not at all enamored with the way the issue’s been handled to date. That’s a problem for incumbents.
BOLUS: In Pennsylvania, both campaigns have ads claiming their candidate will be tougher on data centers. Meanwhile, town meetings continue across the state with residents speaking out against data centers in their neighborhoods.
For NPR News, I’m Kat Bolus in Pittston, Pennsylvania.
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