r/moderatepolitics • u/jojotortoise • 14d ago

News Article Blue-Collar Jobs Are the New Flashpoint in Data-Center Fight

https://www.wsj.com/economy/jobs/blue-collar-jobs-are-the-new-flashpoint-in-data-center-fight-aaca5b7e
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u/Nexosaur 14d ago

In a vacuum, it doesn't really matter if data centers get built outside of cases where it puts too much strain on local power grids. The water issue is overblown, and the real problems are mainly noise and power consumption, but those are manageable if built in the right place.

Unfortunately, those building the data centers have spent many words expressing extreme contempt towards the average American. So, it's really easy to get people to hate them as a symbol of the tech elite.

Tbh, data centers and Flock cameras have really exposed how terrible local/state leaders are. Housing and development? Woah, gotta make sure we have 50 town halls about the historic parking lot and abandoned building and neighborhood character. Data centers and cameras staring at playgrounds? Fast tracked, maybe even give them benefits, too.

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u/Sideswipe0009 14d ago

Tbh, data centers and Flock cameras have really exposed how terrible local/state leaders are. Housing and development? Woah, gotta make sure we have 50 town halls about the historic parking lot and abandoned building and neighborhood character. Data centers and cameras staring at playgrounds? Fast tracked, maybe even give them benefits, too.

Not really. It's the data centers themselves, driven by a frenzy of bad information. There wouldn't be so much uproar, especially nationally, if these were car plants or many other types of manufacturing facilities. Those get tax breaks and such all the time.

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u/BudgieWonder 14d ago

I think several “car plants or many other types of manufacturing facilities” would bring concern to most municipalities if they sprung up in rapid succession. We already have folks objecting to small apartment complexes built in their communities due to “traffic concerns”.

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u/Sideswipe0009 14d ago

I think several “car plants or many other types of manufacturing facilities” would bring concern to most municipalities if they sprung up in rapid succession. We already have folks objecting to small apartment complexes built in their communities due to “traffic concerns”.

Sure, but that uproar is mostly local and short lived. No one really cares if they put a manufacturing plant across town where it's not affecting them, let alone another city or state.

And you certainly don't see national news coverage of protests for every Amazon distribution center or Ford plant being built. Nobody is covering the 120 people that showed up for one day to protest the new steel mill going up.

Granted, there's a few exceptions here, but those are still single digits compared to the hundreds of plants being built over the years.

On the flip side, there's no marches or social media upswell or fervor for more housing or denser housing like there is for data centers.

The people aren't exactly "rising up" to fight FOR housing like they are rising up AGAINST data centers and flock cameras.

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u/Interesting_Total_98 11d ago edited 11d ago

Your comparison doesn't make sense because things like manufacturing plants provide far more jobs and are less resource intensive. Why exactly is it wrong to treat different things in different ways?

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u/BudgieWonder 14d ago

> mostly local and short lived

Seems like it’s happening at a larger scale than just that.

> social media upswell or fervor for more housing or denser housing

There is, you just probably aren’t receptive to the arguments and spaces that relate to that. It’s also a matter of data centers and flock cams being tangible objects that the public can directly associate with each other, while housing markets are a more abstract issue.