Our use of smartphones are part of the reason data centers are going to be built, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Wednesday morning.
Michigan’s two-term governor acknowledged the environmental concerns data centers bring to rural communities Wednesday at a Michigan Chronicle Pancakes and Politics event.
However, she suggested building them in states other than Michigan would be done “less smart, with lower wages in a way that abuses the natural resources and jacks up energy prices.”
“That’s not good for anyone,” Whitmer said. “My whole philosophy has been, lets be the model. Let’s show how it can be done. Let’s solve the problem and let’s do it right, so that everyone else has to follow.”
Whitmer said she appreciated the work of Barton Malow and other organizations working to build data centers in Michigan, where more than a dozen have been proposed.
Nearly 20 communities have proposed moratoriums on the local construction of data centers, including Detroit.
Detroit City council member Scott Benson told Michigan Chronicle he’s neither for, nor against the large scale IT warehouses which environmental opponents say increase energy and water consumption. He introduced a moratorium resolution saying the ordinance was “proactive regulation,” in order to allow for data centers in a responsible way that he says could grow the city’s general fund.
Read more: Detroit Council Member: Data Centers Could Grow City’s General Fund
The topic of data centers has become a lightning rod for some on the right and left who oppose public subsidies for the projects that critics say bring an underwhelming amount of jobs and create noise and water pollution to nearby residents.
Whitmer said data centers should be built in a place that provides a living wage, makes sure that consumer protections are in place and ensures utility customers will keep access to the energy they need and protects natural resources.
“That’s what we are able to do in the state of Michigan,” Whitmer said. “And that’s what one of the first big projects we’re doing is going to prove out.”
OpenAI, Oracle and Related are currently set to built one of the most advanced AI infrastructure sites in the country in Saline, Michigan. The Washtenaw County community backed down from a legal fight with the giant tech companies after its township board rejected the plan.
“Right now if we look at what’s going on in the world, in computing, in AI, in the devices that every one of us has in our pockets or in our purses, we know that it is going to be important that we are able to meet the needs of an ever changing economy that currently the United States is leading on, but isn’t necessarily going to always be so. And that we are more and more relying on as individuals. Data centers are going to be built. They’re going to be built because we are all fueling the need for them every day with our devices. We’re all part of the reason that data centers are going to be built.”
“If we’re going to be a place that solves problems and gets all the talent that comes with super computing that will follow where data centers are,” she said.
