Thank you all who have signed so far - the more we have, the better. I’ll be bringing what we have so far to a Polk County Board of Commissioners meeting this month where I’ll be reading some of the comments you’ve left. Please share this petition again to keep the momentum going. The more this grows leading up to their decision making, the better (I’m not sure when the permit granting votes will be yet - keeping an eye on that and will let you know).
Just a few more details not in my original post that I’d like to mention:
- This hyper scale data center would use 1.2 gigawatts of electricity. That’s literally TWICE the power used in the city of Tallahassee, for example.
- It would also need 50,000 gallons of water…DAILY. Yes, they tout a closed loop system, but they would still need this amount daily AND closed loop systems are still contaminating water sources.
- The developer (hi, Stonebridge, if you’re reading this), has not yet revealed who the ultimate owner and operator will be - it could be Palantir, it could be Oracle, it could be xAI - we just don’t know and they won’t tell us.
Also, for anyone interested, go check out Benn Jordans YouTube video on infrasound as well (it’s title Datacenters Are Making People Sick on YouTube). Super interesting and…unsettling.
Anyway, happy May Day today. Thank you to everyone who’s signed so far and left a comment. Please share (again) and let’s keep up the momentum. We in Polk County are setting a precedent for the rest of Florida and the Country with this.
We can have technological evolution that's sustainable and for the betterment of our communities - this isn't it. It's up to us to protect Florida from actors who don't care about this state and our communities like we do.