Opinion: Colorado data centers should pay full cost, prioritize renewables
An opinion piece from Boulder criticizes the architecture of new buildings and expresses strong concerns about data centers. The author argues that data centers are resource predators, consuming significant water and electricity, and calls for future legislation to eliminate subsidies and mandate renewable energy use and thorough environmental impact analyses.
A Boulder resident, in a letter to the editor, voiced strong concerns about the changing architecture of new buildings in the city, describing them as "brutalistic" and limited to "grays and browns and blacks". The writer then shifted focus to data centers, acknowledging their necessity but branding them as "resource predators" due to their consumption of water, land, air, and electrical resources.
The author called for "appropriate guardrails" against data centers, citing political pressure for significant subsidies and a lack of environmental controls in Colorado, unlike other states. The letter argues that data center operators, despite their vast assets, should bear the full cost of infrastructure without burdening Colorado citizens. Furthermore, the writer advocated for all data center energy, including backup systems, to be sourced from renewables to reduce carbon footprint and air pollution, and demanded that electrical demand not exceed Colorado’s renewable capabilities.
The opinion piece dismissed the notion of long-term employment from data centers, emphasizing only short-term construction jobs. The author highlighted the substantial water usage of typical data centers, comparing it to the needs of 30,000-50,000 people. The letter concluded by advocating for mandatory environmental impact analyses for each data center, covering aspects like water management, noise, air emissions, land use, stormwater, wildlife, and viewshed impacts, and warned against compromising legislation like HR26-1030.