Data center moratoriums are right for Alabama
Apparently, asking questions and raising community concerns now makes you a socialist.
At least that’s what you’d believe if you listened to some of the arguments being made by those against a temporary pause in Alabama’s rush to approve AI data centers.
Ask who pays to build the new power plants these facilities require, and suddenly you’re threatening national security and supporting China.
Ask whether billiondollar corporations who stand to make billions more should receive generous taxpayer subsidies, and you’re accused of channeling Bernie Sanders and AOC.
Ask whether the state and Alabama cities should demand transparency and negotiate harder before giving away their land, water, electricity, and tax dollars, and somehow, you’re against jobs and technology altogether.
Those aren’t answers. They’re distractions. And they’re downright silly. Civic engagement is the essence of democracy, not socialism.
The people of Alabama deserve better than straw-man arguments whenever they ask reasonable questions about their future and quality of life.
Across Alabama, communities are asking reasonable questions. How much water will these facilities consume and what will it mean for our water supply? Who pays for the power and infrastructure they require? What tax incentives are being offered, and what guarantees are taxpayers receiving in return? On what terms should Big Tech come to Alabama?
Those are not ideological questions. They are community questions. They are reasonable questions everyone is asking. I hear them from folks everywhere I go.
And given the amount of money involved here, there is another very important question that folks in Alabama are asking: Who benefits? Alabamians deserve to know who will be getting the gold and who will get the shaft.
Alabama should welcome investment. We should welcome innovation. But welcoming investment is not the same thing as surrendering our precious natural resources and possibly our quality of life.
That’s why I support a temporary moratorium on the construction of new data centers — not to stop progress, but to give us time to put guardrails in place to strengthen transparency and protect communities.
No secret deals. No blank checks. No tax giveaways without real jobs. No higher utility bills for Alabama families. Stronger ethics laws to ensure that no public official or their immediate family members profit from any data center project.
Those are not unreasonable demands. They’re the minimum Alabama should require before giving away some of its most valuable resources.
AI is coming and Alabama should compete. But we should compete on Alabama’s terms with appropriate guardrails in place — not on Silicon Valley’s terms.
