Counterpoint: Transparency matters in data center development

Americans have a lot of concerns about AI data centers, but two keep rising to the top. First, the process for approving data centers is very secretive, and the developers are concealing even basic details about their projects from the public. Second, the environmental impacts could be significant, from energy use and bills to water use to noise.

In his recent MinnPost Voices commentary, Lindsay Mark Lewis tries to portray the proposed Pine Island, Minnesota, data center as an example of a project that “went through the process” and should therefore be built. But I wonder if Lewis has read any of the documents in the Pine Island “process.” I have, and there simply isn’t enough information in them to evaluate the potential environmental impacts. 

Key facts were not included in the documents, including ho...