Michigan: Too Beautiful to Lose!
If you agree with the sentiments expressed in this letter, feel free to borrow my language to write your own letter to our Michigan governor.
Dear Governor Whitmer:
Your tenure as governor has generally meant good news, in sharp contrast to the national scene. Now, however, I am appalled and alarmed and angry to read of your support for giant data centers in Michigan. You are said to be “pushing” for them, wanting our state to “lead” in building them, because, you say, the question is "not if but when" they will be built. My question is, where and why?
Which states will rush to give up valuable farmland and housing space for temporary construction jobs creating a blight of energy-sucking, water-guzzling, noise-polluting, heat-emitting megabuildings empty of workers (except for a couple of guards) and full of supersized computers to facilitate storage of “data,” most of which doesn’t need to be stored and some of which shouldn’t have been collected (for government surveillance of citizens) in the first place.
Communities across our country and elsewhere have fallen for the “jobs” ploy before. It’s the reason communities say yes to the building of prisons and detention centers and why they welcome mountains of garbage and even toxic waste from other states and other countries (in our case, from Canada). It’s part of what convinces them that oil fracking and CAFOs are good ideas. “If we don’t grab those jobs, someone else will get them.” Why should the people of Michigan trade long-term health and a lifetime of higher energy, long term health problems, and permanent, irremediable degredation of our beautiful natural habitat for a few temporary jobs? Do you stand to gain personally from these losses to the people of Michiogan? If you are not profiting somehow, your support for data centers makes no sense. It doesn’t fit the person I believe you are.
You may have already received a letter very close to this from a friend of mine, who asked if she could use my words. I gave my permission readily. Now imagine how many other Michigan residents and voters feel as we do! Please don’t sell us out! Thank you for your diligent attention to this urgent matter.
