CounterPunch.org | Whitmer’s Data Center Push Isn’t Just Bad for Michigan – It’s Bad for the World by Jackie Barlow - Stewart Mitchell
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Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s push to build a massive AI data center in Saline, Michigan—backed by tech giants OpenAI and Oracle—has sparked fierce local opposition because it threatens environmental health, local livelihoods, and global justice. Critics argue the project fuels a broader pattern of U.S.‑supported data‑center expansion that relies on conflict minerals and fossil‑fuel energy sourced from the Global South, financing armed groups and wars in places like the Congo, Venezuela, Iran, and the DRC. The center also expands military‑linked surveillance infrastructure, with companies such as Palantir, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing involved in technologies that automate targeting and mass data extraction. Residents contend that promised economic benefits are outweighed by 24/7 noise, property‑value loss, water consumption, and the diversion of municipal resources, while the state grants tax breaks that sideline public input. The article urges Michiganders to continue resisting these projects, emphasizing that local dissent is being ignored in favor of corporate and war‑profit interests.
Read more: https://www.counterpunch.org/2026/07/14/whitmers-data-center-push-isnt-just-bad-for-michigan-its-bad-for-the-world/
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