The Data Center Next Door
What a $100 billion announcement in Sarah's Kentucky town reveals about water, power bills, and why nobody trusts anybody anymore.
The news in Paducah is the news everywhere: we’re getting a $100 billion data center. My friend Lacey Bowling joins me to sort through what the backlash gets right, what it gets wrong, and why nobody — local, state, or federal — has the trust to lead us through it. We talk water, power bills, natural gas, and the comment that stopped me in my tracks: “Happy it’s a hundred billion dollar investment when my family still lives paycheck to paycheck.” Then Outside of Politics, we’re pre-grieving (or not) our babies becoming high school seniors.
— Sarah
Topics Discussed
Trump Appointments
The Time to Be Bold
Outside of Politics: The Sexiest Man Alive
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Episode Resources
Pantsuit Politics Resources
The Paducah Data Center
Hyperscale data center, natural gas-fired project planned for Paducah’s former nuclear plant (Kentucky Lantern)
$100B data center, gas-fired power plant to be developed around Paducah DOE site (Louisville Public Media)
Brookfield, NextEra to Develop $100B Data Center Campus at DOE’s Paducah Site (POWER Magazine)
Data Centers & the Backlash
The A.I. Revolt Is Here (The Ezra Klein Show)
Planned Texas data centers could emit significant pollution (Texas Tribune)
Bell County passed a data center moratorium. Residents worry that work continues. (Kentucky Lantern)
Data centers need massive power. They’re eyeing Kentucky’s idle industrial sites to get it. (Kentucky Lantern)
Outside of Politics
This Is Happiness by Niall Williams (Bookshop.org)
Giant-Sized Butterflies by Justin Roberts (Spotify)Episode Transcript
Episode Transcripts
Coming soon…
Show Credits
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