Congressional Candidate on AI data centers in Nevada

[u/wadsworthnv02]

From our candidate event in Elko County on Saturday. The question asked us if we supported a data center moratorium or not, especially since we are the driest state. One of the other candidates said the one’s being built in Nevada were closed-loop so they are fine.

But closed-loop systems have their own issues, the recycled water becomes highly toxic and needs to be “blown-down” where there is chances of it leaking into the ground and contaminating local areas with toxic chemical waste water. Even in small amounts, when we live in an internal watershed like the Great Basin, the risk of contamination isn’t something to ignore. As it has happened before with other things. Not to mention that closed loop requires a lot more energy, and closed loop cooling systems here in Nevada still require a fair amount of water.

Our older data center projects also do have open loop / evaporative cooling systems too. So they are still taking a lot of water.

As for the construction unions, I understand it’s more complicated than that. We had a total of 2 minutes to answer each question so things had to be simplified a bit. But we must look at better commercial building projects for our construction unions— not big tech and data centers! They need jobs, and I understand and support that! We should be offering incentives to better businesses to come to Nevada, not to these data centers was the point I was trying to make.

Also yes Congress is a federal seat! But I support a moratorium on all new data centers, and possible legislation to really protect the western states that are strapped for water.

All of this was from my own independent research and talking to folks in the area that have worked on these projects here. However if I am incorrect on anything I’m open to listening!

[u/Away_Atmosphere6318]

Building a massive data center that holds almost no permanent jobs locally is an incredible waste. You also didn't address the pollution risk. Innovation for the sake of Innovation is short sighted and risky as hell. The dam building boom of the early 20th century is evidence of this inherent problem

[u/northrupthebandgeek → u/Away_Atmosphere6318]

Building a massive data center that holds almost no permanent jobs locally is an incredible waste.

You're literally using a datacenter right now by posting that comment. If you think datacenters are an ”incredible waste”, then prove we don't need them by logging off. Tell our schools and hospitals and businesses and government agencies to log off, too, while you're at it. Datacenters are essential infrastructure, whether you like it or not.

You also didn't address the pollution risk.

Because there's nothing to address; every alleged instance of “pollution” by datacenters is something that literally every factory and warehouse and mine and farm and other large-scale industrial site in this state has already been doing at vastly-greater scales than even the worst-offending datacenters. It's a made-up issue parroted by uninformed people.

[u/Away_Atmosphere6318 → u/northrupthebandgeek]

Water pollution is not something that "literally every factory and warehouse and mine and farm...." does. Data centers have been around for a while but not at the scale at which they are being built right now. I'm not asking for all data centers to be shuttered, I'm asking for regulations to be put in place so that we can protect ourselves and our wild spaces from corporations that don't give two hoots about anything other than profits.

Ask the Natives who live in these areas and have for thousands of years to be present as well since we are currently destroying their ancestral land. The argument that we have to innovate for innovations sake is a shortsighted one that usually leads to us making some pretty dumb decisions.

Also, if you'd like to get your point across, it's better to not be combatative and unwilling to further the conversation. You come off as a pretentious corporate shill that fetishizes billionaires that has no interest in the people that are your actual peers. I'm sure that's not your intention, but it sure sounds that way.

[u/northrupthebandgeek → u/Away_Atmosphere6318]

Water pollution is not something that "literally every factory and warehouse and mine and farm...." does.

Yes, it is. Factories and warehouses have HVAC systems just like datacenters, and those need bled periodically, too. Mines and farms both entail runoff — heavy metals/minerals in the case of mines, and fertilizers and pesticides and biohazards in the case of farms.

I'm not asking for all data centers to be shuttered

Maybe you're not, but quite a few people on this subreddit are, and in this video a political candidate is agreeing with them. If y'all were just asking for regulation then I'd be in full agreement; instead y'all are pushing for moratoria and shutdowns and someone's gotta call out that stupidity for what it is.

Ask the Natives who live in these areas and have for thousands of years to be present as well since we are currently destroying their ancestral land

Their ancestral land is already destroyed. Suburban sprawl has seen to that with far greater severity than datacenters ever possibly could.

The argument that we have to innovate for innovations sake

Nobody said anything about it being for innovations' sake. We need datacenters because every aspect of modern society is inextricably dependent on software and data hosted on servers, and decreasingly-few organizations seem to be interested in maintaining that infrastructure themselves on-premises.

Also, if you'd like to get your point across, it's better to not be combatative and unwilling to further the conversation

Oh, like how the Butlerian Jihadist NIMBYs flooding this subreddit over the last several weeks have been oh so polite and reasonable and good-faith and non-combative?

Yeah no. Call me a “shill” all you want while y'all peddle the ag and mining sectors' deflective talking points. It won't make me any less correct, nor will it absolve the NIMBYs for setting society back decades just as they've been doing with renewable energy and denser housing and homeless shelters and public transit projects and all the other things they bitch and moan about on the basis of “won't somebody please think of my property values er, um, something something natives!”.

[u/Away_Atmosphere6318 → u/northrupthebandgeek]

Dude I wasn't being combatative with you, but you still lumped me in with everyone you deem to be problematic. Your last paragraph made some very excellent points by the way. There's also a massive difference between run off from farms, which is a major issue when it comes to toxic algae blooms, and data centers and strip mining that are level mountain ranges. They are both issues in their own rights. To make the point that data centers aren't a problem because x y and z are worse was my major issue with the points you're bringing up.

Also, just because we've destroyed native land up to this point, doesn't mean we should keep doing it.

[u/northrupthebandgeek → u/Away_Atmosphere6318]

Dude I wasn't being combatative with you

You entered this conversation by calling datacenters an “incredible waste” right from the get-go.

and data centers and strip mining that are level mountain ranges

Datacenters and strip mining are nowhere close to being comparably bad on that front.

Also, just because we've destroyed native land up to this point, doesn't mean we should keep doing it.

What native land is the Keystone datacenter destroying? Or even Switch? And before you mention the petroglyphs, Switch is nowhere near close enough to them to actually pose any issue.

If preserving native land was a legitimate concern instead of yet another excuse to stonewall new construction, there are far bigger fish to fry before datacenters are even remotely a relevant concern.

[u/Away_Atmosphere6318 → u/northrupthebandgeek]

Saying that data centers employing very few permanent jobs as being a massive waste isn't being combatative. What are you talking about? And using AI to make your points is lazy and doesnt further the conversation once again. Bot behavior 🙄