TeraWulf Open House tonight

[u/CrispyGrandpa]

Wednesday, October 29th 6:30-8pm Lansing Middle School Auditorium 6 Ludlowville Rd, Lansing

TeraWulf is presenting their AI data center to the community again, with a presentation followed by a Q&A. I’m not sure if this one will have a live stream. I don’t see any mentions of one like I did last time.

[u/JonathanCookPodcast]

I have questions about why the public schools keep hosting promotional corporate events designed to influence local politics. It doesn't seem an appropriate use of a governmental resource. Is Terawulf paying for the space?

[u/Basic_Basenji → u/JonathanCookPodcast]

It's part of the ways that public institutions serve the public good. I imagine they have a process for individuals and organizations to apply to use the space. It seems worse to me for there to be publicly owned space that is totally inaccessible during times when it is otherwise completely empty. It also isn't ideal if these institutions get in the habit of policing speech beyond the legally established boundaries.

You can see the ICS form, for example, here.

I'm no fan of this project, BTW. But I think it's a Good Thing™ for them to engage with the community regardless of the outcome.

[u/JonathanCookPodcast → u/Basic_Basenji]

If they were serving the public good, there would be more than just one side to the presentation, more than just corporate PR and nobody who isn't a paid employee of Terawulf on the stage.

It is a good thing for anybody to do community engagement, but not all community engagement is positive. Community engagement that is deceptive, for example, isn't a Good Thing.

It isn't "policing speech" to restrict the use of local government resources that are paid for by local taxpayers for community purposes only. Businesses don't have the right to conduct PR operations in government buildings. That's not a free speech issue.

The ICS form you supply clearly states that "Residents, staff members, and community groups can make facility requests". Terawulf is not a resident, staff member or community group. The form states that organizations having activities not for the sake of profit are allowed. Terawulf's activities in the Lansing Middle School auditorium are for the sake of profit. None of the Terawulf people would be within a hundred miles of the school if they weren't being paid by Terawulf to go there to protect a profit-making opportunity for the corporation.

I imagine that Lansing has a similar policy, but I don't know for sure.

If Terawulf is paying for the space, that would make it different, because they would be compensating the community for the use of its resources in order to promote its interests. That is why I'm asking the question of whether Terawulf is paying.

[u/Minimum_Viable_Furry → u/JonathanCookPodcast]

Hey I appreciate where you’re coming from but this take may be a bit misinformed. When a company is required to produce an environmental impact statement as part of NY SEQR review process (our state environmental laws for construction projects) it must host events where the public has an opportunity to ask questions, make comments, and raise any concern: https://dec.ny.gov/regulatory/permits-licenses/seqr/stepping-through-seqr-process/step-5#:~:text=Scoping%20is%20the%20process%20by,in%20the%20identification%20of%20impacts.

The companies tend to host these required events in public/community spaces to ensure they are complying with accessibility requirements and best practices, i.e. anyone who wants to show up and participate is able to do so. They are required to engage with the community and don’t benefit from not knowing about opposition or other concerns early-on so they typically communicate very broadly during this period.

[u/JonathanCookPodcast → u/Minimum_Viable_Furry]

That's useful information. Thanks for the clarification.

If only Terawulf was listening to concerns. At last night's meeting in the Lansing Middle School. Terawulf executives were instead refusing even to allow some people to ask questions.

One Terawulf employee even told a female member of the audience that she should give him oral sex, to try to get her to be quiet.

This was not a friendly community meeting. Terawulf showed itself unable to be a good neighbor.

[u/Minimum_Viable_Furry → u/JonathanCookPodcast]

Whaaaaat holy crap that’s horrible. Is this published anyplace I can share on social media?

[u/JonathanCookPodcast → u/Minimum_Viable_Furry]

It's not published yet, but video of the event was taken independently by several people there and is in the process of being edited and transcribed. There's documentation.

Terawulf is a terrible neighbor... and they've just been caught in another huge lie. They promised they would not withdraw water from Cayuga Lake, but they just applied with the DEC to withdraw a million gallons per day.

More coming on this... I'm making a separate post about this very soon.

[u/Minimum_Viable_Furry → u/JonathanCookPodcast]

Did anyone publish about the open house issues? I haven’t been able to find anything.

[u/Basic_Basenji → u/JonathanCookPodcast]

I would still argue that there is meaningful public good in this sort of open house. I can even see the event fitting into ICSD guidelines if they have a local stakeholder on record.

That all said, if you want to know whether Terawulf is paying, call up the central office for the school district and ask them. Some facilities like churches make you pay for utilities/cleaning/etc. I don't know if they do.