Admit it, You Want Data Centers in Bay County

Can we have an honest conversation, or are we going to lie to ourselves about the high-tech version of the Salem Witch Trials? 

If you are reading this on the internet, have Netflix, Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, online banking account, or watch YouTube videos. Then you love data centers. 

You just don’t want them in your backyard, be honest. 

Now that I have swatted the hornets’ nest, let’s lay the facts out on the table. And it starts with you, the voter. 

First and foremost, if you want technology to continue to make your life better, data centers are a key part of that effort. 

Second, this not in my backyard approach, can I be blunt here, is BS. 

Third, the real problem is how you vote and what your representatives do or don’t do. Let’s break that down. 

I get the concerns, power rates going up. Let’s explore that a little deeper for just one second. The people that you voted for allowed FPL to build solar farms. At four to five times the cost, that generates one quarter or less of the power of a NatGas power plant so they could make more money off your back. 

Did I also mention, yes, I did here in these pages before. They knew these “farms” are going to leave the land beneath the panels contaminated. So, they passed legislation requiring FPL to clean up after itself. Yeah, I won’t hold my breath on that one. 

Here is an idea, instead of letting them stick it to rate payers via a Green New Deal boondoggle. We just say no, from the get-go.  

Next on the list is the amount of water required to cool data centers. Needless to say, that is a very touchy subject in most of the country and especially in Florida. 

There is also the loss of farmland in many cases and the potential for that to drive up food costs. Possible noise concerns and other environmental impacts. 

I get it, the questions and issues to be addressed are numerous. But are we Americans or are we the French circa WW II, willing to surrender at the first sign of any inconvenience? 

I also understand that the average person has no confidence in their elected officials to make sure this is done correctly. 

They look around in Bay County and see development booming without the appropriate infrastructure being built, and when it is. The cost is being shifted to them so others can profit. 

The state limits the amount of impact fees a county or city can charge. Panama City Beach doubles down and cuts those impact fees for commercial developers by as much as ninety-seven percent and shifts that cost to residential owners. 

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection makes it either impossible or so costly to do anything. Most municipalities won’t even try if they have to get a permit from them. 

And they all stand around in a circular firing squad, blaming each other instead of fixing what they can fix first. While every one of them tells you they got your back. 

The founders set up a process for you to fix these issues. But if you are going to base your vote on who comes to your meetings, who knocks on your door, whose got the most attractive family, who sends you the most flyers, and not their record or demonstrated ability to fight and solve complex problems. Then you get what you get. 

Someone who placates your fears and screams with you, not in my backyard. 

All that being said, I am not Lincoln Lenin Sr. (the southern leaks out from time to time) I believe in the right to self-determination. 

If the people say no, then it is no. 

Let’s just make sure when we do say no, we are doing it for the right reasons. The men who gave all for this nation did not do so, so that we could hide in the corner scared of change. 

They gave all so the next generations would be free and hopefully up to the task of moving humanity forward.