Your Data, Your Water, Their Bill: Tech Giants' Eco-Footprint
Mainstream outlets celebrate local 'bipartisanship' as communities nationwide protest data centers gobbling water and hiking utility rates, framed as a fresh phenomenon. The Independent marvels at this unexpected coalition, as if corporate giants externalizing their costs onto taxpayers isn't a playbook older than the internet itself. This isn't a new bipartisan miracle; it's the inevitable
outcome when local governments, eager for 'investment,' prioritize corporate profits over resident well-being, granting tax breaks and resource access with little public oversight. While residents face rising bills and strained resources, tech behemoths like Amazon and Google — the very entities benefiting from these 'data farms' — routinely report record profits. The story sidesteps who profits
and how these deals get made. Perhaps if the water bills were sent directly to the data centers instead of the 'average rate payer,' we might see quicker 'bipartisan' action to regulate corporate resource consumption. Or maybe it's only a problem when your faucet runs dry, not when public funds are drained.