The Environmental Impacts of Data Centers

“TeraWulf lauded the benefits of a data center campus in Lansing and pitched the project’s benefits in monetary terms. There would be temporary construction employment, but few permanent jobs. Gains from data centers that power A.I. are in the stock market where profits go to investors—earnings leave the community. For-profit companies have little incentive to consider the welfare of the community long term.

Data centers harm the environment. Corporate CEOs deny or equivocate to convince us otherwise. The build-out for an air-cooled system blights the landscape. Electricity costs go up along with noise levels. Heat released effects the ambient temperature and humidity adding to a warming planet and the increase in Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Corporations comply with environmental laws only if laws are enforced and don’t interfere with their profit-making; many, threaten lawsuits to get their way.

The health and true wealth of our community rely on the health of the lake and the unscared beauty of the greater environment, an environment that attracts visitors who contribute significantly to the green economy. We’re all responsible for safeguarding the health of the greater community and environment. We need to think hard about allowing a corporation to gamble with the well-being of the community and the health of the environment simply to profit stockholders.” – Deborah Jones, Perry City

Time to Turn Newman Golf Course into a Cash Machine for the City

“This proposal will anger my golfing friends.

The City of Ithaca is sitting on a gold mine for generating much-needed tax revenue for the city, town, county, and school district. Newman Municipal Golf Course, just south of Stewart Park, occupies around seventy acres of prime, waterfront real estate. With the Cayuga Inlet on one side and Fall Creek on the other, this flat, pristine parcel with views of the lake ranks as one of Tompkins County’s most valuable yet underutilized locations.

Area governments and the Ithaca City School District need new sources of significant and reliable revenue to fund growing demand for teachers, libraries, parks, transportation, homeless shelters, health care, street repairs, and services for our elderly population.

Instead of running an historically cash-negative, little-used, golf course operation that relies on extensive maintenance and chemicals, the city could sell or lease the land to developers to build high-value, highly-taxed townhomes, apartments, and other housing.

Many residents will insist that we should instead build affordable housing. I agree that we continue to have significant challenges with housing costs in our county. But, in the last ten years, Ithaca has added many units of new, affordable housing. Nearly all of the developers benefited from lucrative tax incentives extended to them. Meanwhile, each year, area residents receive tax increases to fund the growing budgets of local governments and schools.

Ithaca needs a cash cow. Given the county’s attractive natural and cultural offerings, I suggest there would be solid demand for high-end residences, especially among IC and Cornell alumnae. As a rough, back-of-the-napkin estimate, with around 1000 new units selling in the range of $400-$500K, this should generate $12 to $13 million in new revenue per year. And remember, weekend homeowners pay full taxes but require little services, especially from area schools.

Built in the 1930s, the historic Newman course has undoubtedly created many wonderful memories for local golf enthusiasts. The management and dedicated volunteers deserve praise for offering a beautiful, low-cost, and accessible course. But supporters must also face the reality that interest in golf is waning, and that city taxpayers have been subsidizing their hobby for decades.

City officials should carefully consider this parcel’s potential to inject substantial new dollars into area government and schools.” – Robert Rieger, Ithaca

Know Your Birds

“Back in the 1970’s and 70’s the radio station WHCU had a program KNOW YOUR BIRDS from the Lab of Ornithology.

Sadly the tapes of those programs got destroyed . I hope some of your readers may have copies of these programs.” – Bill Hecht, Union Springs

Cultivated Meat Could Cut Emissions — If We Invest

“Politicians who care about the environment should support public funding for cultivated-meat research. For those who don’t know, the protein is grown from animal cells, without slaughter. While the technology is still being developed, scientists believe cultivated meat will eventually require a fraction of the greenhouse-gas emissions that slaughtered meat does.

Increased public investment in cellular-agriculture development will help bring the new protein to market faster, where it can hopefully begin to displace the ecologically-devastating output of factory farms, by offering an identical, cheaper product. Forward-thinking politicians should do everything in their power to back this effort. We can build a greener food system.” – Jon Hochschartner, Granby, CT