Letter: Follow Texas’ lead on data centers
A physician's letter to the editor urges Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo to halt tax breaks for data centers, citing environmental and public health concerns. The author points to Texas' recent order to pause new data center approvals as a model for Nevada to assess the facilities' impact on water, power, and communities. The letter advocates for greater accountability and a thorough review of data center costs versus benefits.
A physician writing to the Nevada Appeal urged Governor Joe Lombardo to cease offering tax breaks to data center developers, drawing a parallel to a recent executive order by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. The author contends that data centers pose significant public health and environmental challenges due to their high water and electricity consumption in a drought-prone state. They further argue that while these facilities create temporary construction jobs, they yield only a small number of permanent positions, failing to deliver the promised economic development.
The letter specifically highlighted Texas Governor Greg Abbott's recent directive to halt new data center approvals until state regulators conduct comprehensive audits of their water usage, power demands, tax incentives, and broader community impacts. The physician called on Governor Lombardo to adopt a similar cautious approach, emphasizing the need for a transparent accounting of the environmental and social costs before any new data center projects are permitted to break ground in Nevada.