With the data center issue being so heavily covered at the moment, I think people need to keep going further. We have achieved a small victory with the resolutions at the last board meeting, but there are so many more things we need to push for. Not enough is being covered about the way these data centers use our water. While it is true that a lot of them are transferring to a closed loop system, they are still using our water. This water does not come back the way it naturally would through the water cycle. The only reason that they use water is that it is the cheapest, and easiest coolant for their servers. We also need to look past the AI data centers, and focus on ALL data centers. It is outrageous that we keep being told to bend our knees to these centers when movements like the one here in Beloit have proved so effective. We should never support ANY data center ANYWHERE until they stop using water to cool their centers. Until then, I think we need to push beyond Beloit, beyond Rock County, and beyond just the fact of them being data centers, or just being on our front doorsteps. We need to stop this in all parts of this state, and if we can't stop them, then we need to prioritize the long-term harm that they will have on our environment. We cannot, and never will, bend our knees to them.
JAIDEN ROSHEISEN Beloit
