Statewide tour fighting data center expansion visits Finger Lakes
Activists with NY Fights AI Data Centers are on a statewide tour, visiting Geneva to advocate for Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act. They highlight policy gaps despite an existing temporary moratorium, citing ongoing concerns about the environmental impact of the former Greenidge Generation cryptocurrency mining facility, now Vulcan Infrastructure and Power, located near Seneca Lake in Dresden.
Activists and community leaders associated with NY Fights AI Data Centers have embarked on a statewide tour, with a recent stop in Geneva, New York. The primary objective of the tour is to pressure Governor Kathy Hochul to sign the Responsible Data Center Development Act, which passed both chambers of the state legislature in June.
The group acknowledges Governor Hochul's executive order establishing a temporary moratorium on large-scale data centers as a positive initial measure. However, they assert that the act is crucial to address remaining policy gaps concerning environmental and community impacts that the executive order does not fully cover.
A central focus of their advocacy is the data center development near Seneca Lake in Dresden, which was formerly known as the Greenidge Generation cryptocurrency mining facility. The company recently rebranded as Vulcan Infrastructure and Power and announced its intention to pursue broader data center opportunities. The Dresden plant, originally a coal-fired power plant from the 1930s, was converted to natural gas and expanded to host crypto-mining servers in recent years. Environmental advocates have long opposed the facility, arguing its operations undermine New York's greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. Despite a past legal battle, the facility reached an agreement last year with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to proceed with a controversial Title V air permit renewal.