All seven of the developers who propose to build hyperscale AI data centers in Archbald should withdraw their applications and pitch their business in places where they won\u2019t ruin neighborhoods, schools and public parks.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t take my word for it. Ask Scranton Mayor and 8th Congressional District candidate Paige Cognetti.<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe projects that have been proposed in Archbald are already, from the jump, many months ago, almost a year ago in some cases, they\u2019re done,\u201d she said as we chatted over coffee on Thursday.<\/p>\n
She had decaf, but didn\u2019t act like it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose (developers) should just leave. They should realize, if it\u2019s not clear by now, and I\u2019m not sure why it\u2019s not clear by now, that these (proposals) aren\u2019t going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The mayor said local official approvals of any of the Archbald projects would almost certainly be met with court challenges that could stall the process long enough to convince developers it isn\u2019t worth the time and expense to keep pushing them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf for some reason they do get through a round of zoning or they get through some phase of some environmental review, there is no way that the people of Archbald, the people of Lackawanna County, the people of this region are going to just allow them to get built,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s never going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some thought Paige taking a strong, clear stance on the data center invasion was never going to happen, a suspicion that overlooked a statement she made to Sunday Times Staff Writer Jeff Horvath for a story<\/a> published May 19.<\/p>\n In it, the mayor lamented the region\u2019s long, lopsided history of exploitation by \u201cself-serving politicians and greedy corporations\u201d and rightly tagged the data center invasion as \u201cextraction, not development.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to figure out a way for small municipalities to hold the line against speculative developers,\u201d she said. \u201cThere can be a path forward for some data centers to be built \u2014 responsibly, with all interests at the table, with local union labor, and far from homes, schools and recreation areas,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the approach has to be about protecting our way of life, real job growth, public health, and lowering energy costs while building energy capacity \u2014 the opposite of what we\u2019ve seen from Rep. Bresnahan as he\u2019s touted billions in nebulous \u2018development\u2019 by investment firms and personally profited from trading in data center stocks.\u201d<\/p>\n Incumbent Republican Rep. Rob Bresnahan, R-Credo Technology (Google it), recently introduced the \u201cLocal Control Protection Act,\u201d which contains many laudable proposed protections for communities under attack, but is practically meaningless unless and until it becomes law.<\/p>\n Paige pointed out that so far, calls and bills proposing a statewide moratorium have been politically useful to candidates seeking cover or political advantage, but have gone nowhere in the Legislature. Promises are easy. Policy takes real work and perseverance.<\/p>\n Paige attended several conditional use hearings in Archbald and Ransom Twp., including two at which she signed up to testify. The hearings ended without opportunity for public testimony, or her prospective 8th District constituents would have heard from her on data centers months ago.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many proposals in Archbald,\u201d Paige said. \u201cI wanted to understand more and hear from the residents and hear from this alleged company (Brooklyn-based Cornell Reality Management LLC).<\/p>\n \u201cSo I decided to kind of pick one project and follow it in person. I think I\u2019ve been to four of the Wildcat Ridge (Data Center \u2018Campus\u2019) meetings. At the first couple, I didn\u2019t sign up to speak. I just wanted to listen and understand what was being said on the dais.\u201d<\/p>\n Paige said the often fantastical, always unbelievable testimony of Cornell\u2019s alleged experts was as frustrating and insulting to her as it was to the residents seated around her.<\/p>\n The proposed mammoth data center development on West Mountain in Ransom Twp. is of particular concern for the mayor. The last thing Scranton\u2019s flood-prone Keyser Valley neighborhood needs is to be downhill from still more impervious surfaces that swell the flow of stormwater.<\/p>\n Paige vowed to fight the Ransom Twp. development until the application is pulled or denied.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re the city of Scranton,\u201d the mayor said. \u201cWe will die trying, if we have to, to block data centers from being built on our city line literally on top of a mountain with our residents below where we already have a waterfall.\u201d<\/p>\n