Jason’s Data Center Policy

The issue of Artificial Intelligence (AI) data centers is a hot topic nationwide and even here in our district.  It is a rapidly-developing field with many different narratives, concerns, and perspectives.  As someone who currently works in the field of educational technology, Jason has seen firsthand both the peril and the promise of AI.  He shares many of his constituents’ worries about the impacts that AI and its associated infrastructure will have on our economy, environment, and culture.  And yet he also appreciates that, particularly in these tough economic times, there are many who are hopeful that this industry will bring jobs and other revenues to their communities.

Regardless of where you stand on this issue, here are four promises that Jason will make to his constituents, and we urge you to ask the incumbent if she will pledge the same:

  1. Jason will never accept PAC money from the corporations or oligarchs associated with this industry who seek to buy our votes and corrupt our democracy.  His accountability is and will always be to the constituents of this district. The incumbent has taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from the very corporate PACs that are actively pushing the data center industry.  That practice will end if Jason is elected.

  2. Jason will oppose any legislation in Tallahassee that seeks to override the will of individual communities with regard to the siting of data centers, or any issues related to AI.  Far too often, Tallahassee has shown a blatant disregard for local control.  We need to take power back from the state and put it where it belongs, in the communities that will be affected by these decisions.  Communities must maintain their rights to negotiate with data center developers around community benefit agreements, as well as liability for decommissioning and cleanup, as a condition of land use approval.

  3. Jason will seek to assure that community members have all the facts in their decision-making.  Reliable, science-driven information on the potential impacts of data centers on water, air and noise pollution, consumer energy bills, municipal infrastructure, and more must be made fully available to the public in their deliberations. No non-disclosure-agreements!

  4. Jason will use this year’s Senate Bill 484 as a springboard for better protections for communities considering allowing data centers and will help assure that the state’s regulatory bodies (e.g., the Public Service Commission) actually enforce the law.