GENEVA \u2014 Sign the bill, Gov. Kathy Hochul. Pass a moratorium, Torrey Town Board.<\/p>\n
Those were the primary messages delivered during a rally Aug. 24 near the Finger Lakes Welcome Center at the north end of Seneca Lake.<\/p>\n
The bill is the Responsible Data Center Development Act, which passed the State Senate and Assembly in June and sits on the governor\u2019s desk, awaiting her signature. It was sponsored by State Sen. Kristin Gonzalez, D-59 of Queens.<\/p>\n
The largest lake in the Finger Lakes served as a backdrop for the rally because Vulcan Infrastructure and Power, formerly known as Greenidge Generations, is about 13 miles south of the rally site on the west shore of the lake in the Yates County town of Torrey. The company, which bought the former New York State Electric & Gas plant in 2017, has used it for cryptomining since 2020, creating electricity for the state grid, although the amount contributed has declined steadily. The operation also requires Seneca Lake water be used to cool its computers, a portion of which is returned to the lake at a slightly higher temperature.<\/p>\n
Speakers Monday afternoon also called on the Torrey Town Board to enact its own moratorium on data centers. Vulcan is proposing to switch from an electricity-generating and cryptocurrency-mining operation to an electricity and artificial intelligence data center. It is unclear whether state approvals are needed for the change.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis data center would go from using 106 megawatts of electricity a day to 260 megawatts a day,\u201d said Joseph Campbell, president and co-founder of Seneca Lake Guardian. \u201cThere is a question of whether this bill will cover Vulcan, but the need to pass it is urgent. And Torrey needs its own moratorium on data center expansion. We have to draw the line now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Campbell urged people to sign petitions asking for Hochul to sign the bill and for Torrey officials to pass a moratorium.<\/p>\n
Gonzalez also spoke. She is visiting 14 locations statewide where data centers are being proposed to rally support for her bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are united in a fight against AI data centers from New York City to Buffalo,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cWe realized the impacts of these large data centers two years ago, and I worked with Assemblywoman Anna Kelles (D-125 of Ithaca) to draft the proposed legislation now before the governor.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese handful of technology oligarchs want to use a lot of our resources,\u201d Gonzalez continued. \u201cWe just can\u2019t do nothing. The environmental risks are too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gonzalez claimed some of the data centers are as large as a Manhattan borough.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they want them on our turf, they have to be on our terms,\u201d Gonzalez said, noting that while data centers would create temporary construction jobs, few long-term jobs would result.<\/p>\n
The senator said support for her bill has been bipartisan, and surveys show 71% of state residents oppose large-scale data centers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe governor issued an executive order for a one-year moratorium, the first in the nation. That\u2019s a first step, but we need to do more,\u201d Gonzalez said. \u201cThe local economy is built on tourism. The people should be first over profits. That is not a radical concept.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yvonne Taylor, vice president and co-founder of Seneca Lake Guardian, noted the lake has 4.2 trillion gallons of water and supplies drinking water and many other important functions to the municipalities surrounding it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe amount of water and energy they require is intensive and they are allowed to keep operating,\u201d Taylor said. \u201cWe got left behind in the legal battles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Taylor criticized the Torrey Town Board for \u201ccowering\u201d in the face of Greenidge\u2019s promises and money. \u201cThey would use three times the energy they use now, likely resulting in higher utility bills for everyone else. More water use, more noise, more lights and more greenhouse gas emissions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not anti-progress. We are pro-sustainable Finger Lakes,\u201d Taylor added. \u201cWe are fed up and will not back down.\u201d<\/p>\n
Laura Schindel of the Food & Water Action echoed those criticisms and said at least a three-year moratorium is needed for the state to do a proper, in-depth analysis of the impacts of such centers on the communities in which they are targeted.<\/p>\n
\u201cA one-year moratorium is not enough. It\u2019s a first step but we need to go further. The fight is just getting started,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Robert Howarth of Cornell University, a climate scientist, ridiculed data center oligarchs for saying they are not worried about climate change \u201cbecause AI will tell us how to solve it. We have to stop using fossil fuels and fracked gas. If data centers are allowed, they should not be allowed to use fracked gas or nuclear power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellen Campbell, a resident of Torrey who lives less then a mile from Greenidge, said she and her husband have had a residence on the lake and a vacation rental next door for many years. She said the benefits of living on the lake are being threatened by Greenidge, and she\u2019s worried that plans to have their property a \u201cforever house\u201d passed down to their children may be unlikely if the data center is approved.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need time to study the impacts of AI data centers,\u201d said Campbell, also voicing support for a town moratorium to be adopted. \u201cGreenidge does not meet the DEC\u2019s air permit limits. They don\u2019t provide much electricity to the grid, but consume most of themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelles said she and others have been trying to keep Greenidge officials \u201chonest\u201d for nearly a decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have been slippery, providing little information on the impacts of their operations. Once the infrastructure is in, it\u2019s too late, so we have to act now to slow things down,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She warned that the energy consumed by an data center would be enormous. \u201cThey come to the Finger Lakes because of the water, which they get for free,\u201d Kelles said. \u201cThey take 130 million gallons from the lake every day. We say, \u2018No more.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
She listed the reasons why Hochul, who is running for another term as governor, should sign the bill, saying she \u201cshould sign it before November. We will remember what happens on election day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mark C. Pitifer of Waterloo Container, a wine bottle supplier, asked people to look at the lake behind them. \u201cIt\u2019s at risk. Seneca Lake is the crown jewel of the Finger Lakes. It is invaluable and can\u2019t be replaced,\u201d Pitifer said. \u201cLook at the long-term consequences of this AI project.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chief Sam George, a sachem of the Cayuga Nation, said opponents need to let the owners of Vulcan know they are not wanted \u201cand don\u2019t belong here. If we don\u2019t protect the water, the trees and the air around the lake, we won\u2019t be here much longer. Be of one mind and keep them out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GENEVA \u2014 Sign the bill, Gov. Kathy Hochul. Pass a moratorium, Torrey Town Board. Those were the primary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120443,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[23320,225,799,3626,4182,485,393,15725,65,58694,15271,5680,58692,5947,2521,49131,58693,58691,1630],"class_list":["post-120442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-geneva","tag-ai-data-center","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-climate-change","tag-data","tag-data-center","tag-electricity","tag-energy","tag-environmental-impact-of-fossil-fuels","tag-geneva","tag-joseph-campbell","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-lake","tag-moratorium-law","tag-natural-environment","tag-new-york","tag-seneca-lake-new-york","tag-torrey","tag-vulcan-real-estate","tag-water"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/117157685306810056","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}