The Data Centers Are Coming: Ep. 2 - They Underestimated Us

About this episode

Residents of Davis, West Virginia, unite against a major data center project that threatens their community.

When a notice appeared in a local newspaper about a company applying for an air quality permit for a power plant, it set off alarm bells in the small West Virginia town of Davis. After residents realized that a major data center project, enabled by West Virginia’s hastily passed state preemption bill, was being pushed through without anyone knowing about it, the community took action. A coalition of artists, outdoor enthusiasts, and generations-deep mining families formed Tucker United, and we met with them to learn about the state of the fight: why Davis, West Virginia; is the proposed reduction in state income tax and influx of data center revenue actually going to reach the local community; and how do they make sure their voice is heard by local and state government and that corporations are held accountable to them in the face of a politics that is pushing an “abundance” agenda of development with few guardrails? In this episode, we hear from: Linda Bilsens Brolis : Associate Director for Education for the Composting for Community Initiative , who first told us about this story, and lives in Davis. Nikki Forrester : Helped launch Tucker United , now serves as the Director of…

People in this episode

Guests: Linda Bilsens Brolis, Nikki Forrester, Alan Tomson

Topics covered

• data centers
• community action
• local government
• environmental policy
• West Virginia

Keywords

• data center
• air quality permit
• community coalition
• Tucker United
• West Virginia politics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Tucker United, Composting for Community Initiative

Places: Davis, West Virginia, West Virginia

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