Salix, Iowa is a small farm town south of Sioux City — and its city council just cleared the way for a massive data center to be built on 900 acres of local farmland. Council members voted 3-2 against a one-year pause that would have given the community time to study the project's impact before moving forward.

Council member Gene Monk pushed for that pause, saying, "We ask for a cool-down period for a year to research...Then we can make an educated decision," according to Iowa Public Radio. The council rejected it anyway. Council member Denise Burkhart changed her vote after learning Google had been identified as a potential customer for the site, telling Iowa Public Radio, "We need to open conversations with Google to see what they want to bring here, what they're capable of doing for our community, and it may not be right for us, but we're not going to know until we ask."

The land still needs to be rezoned, and Woodbury County is already challenging the annexation in court. But without a pause, residents may not get real answers about how much water and electricity a data center this size would use, or what it means for the farmland many families depend on, before it's too late to change course.

Data centers like this one are being proposed in small towns across the country, often on a fast timeline that leaves little room for residents to weigh in. Salix Mayor Kevin Nelson and the rest of the city council can still choose to slow down and get this right.

Sign the petition urging Salix officials to pause the data center project and give residents real answers before the land is rezoned for good.