Profane Data Center Video - Harry Jarin for Congress (MD-5)

Описание: Data centers have become a huge issue in this election. For most people, it starts with high energy costs. The proposed Amazon project in Calvert Co. is ≈800 MW, several times more power than all homes in the county use combined. Residents are also concerned about groundwater contamination, light pollution, and emissions from backup diesel generators.

So naturally, the political establishment wants to send a data center lobbyist to Congress! Adrian Boafo is a registered lobbyist for Oracle, a massive data center companies. His campaign has received significant support from Oracle executives, including Mike Pence’s former Chief of Staff (now Adrian’s boss). Adrian claims he doesn't lobby on data centers, but official disclosures clearly show him engaging the administration on this issue.

That raises a simple question: when these issues come before Congress, whose interests will he be looking out for?

The bigger problem is that there is virtually no meaningful federal oversight of data centers. Local communities are left to fight huge corporations like Amazon and Oracle on their own, while those companies enjoy close relationships with the administration (Oracle’s chairman, Larry Ellison, is notably close with Trump).

Clearly, we can’t trust Adrian Boafo on this issue. But what would I do differently?

First, ratepayers should not be subsidizing power for hyperscale data centers. The companies profiting from these facilities should pay the full cost of the electricity they consume AND the added strain on the grid.

Second, fix the tax code to stop encouraging a reckless data center gold rush. Trump's 2017 tax law allowed companies to write off the entire cost of a data center in a single year through “bonus depreciation.” This tax trick was supposed to sunset in 2030, but was made permanent in the “one big beautiful bill.” Why are we treating big tech companies differently than any other industry?

Lastly, the larger issue: I don't take corporate PAC money, and I don't work for Big Tech. In Congress, I'll be accountable to the voters of Southern Maryland, not big tech companies. Vote by June 23.

#maryland #datacenter #bigtech #calvertcounty #annearundelcounty #pgcounty #charlescountymd #stmaryscountymd