Ward 5 Director Lance Hines defends data centers amid public opposition in Little Rock
Little Rock Ward 5 Director Lance Hines defended data center developments, including a Google project, during a city board meeting that saw nearly two hours of public opposition. Residents expressed concerns about environmental impact and energy consumption, while Hines emphasized the necessity and economic benefits of data centers for modern technology. The city recently passed a data center ordinance.
Little Rock Ward 5 City Director Lance Hines recently defended data center developments, particularly a project by Google in the Port of Little Rock, amidst significant public opposition. During a city board meeting, the public comment period lasted nearly two hours, with many residents expressing concerns that data centers would harm the city, which they call the "Natural State."
Hines, who spoke with Channel 7 News, downplayed the environmental impact of data centers compared to other industrial facilities like steel mills, despite acknowledging their high energy consumption. He highlighted Google's plans to build five 300,000-square-foot buildings on 350 acres, with spacing designed to mitigate noise and heat issues common in other clustered data center operations.
He further explained Google's interest in Arkansas, including potential sites in Conway and West Memphis, is for redundancy, ensuring continuous data processing for increasingly powerful mobile devices. Google has also launched a website to inform Arkansans about its intentions. The article concludes by mentioning a recently passed data center ordinance.