To the editor:
As a relatively new County resident, it has been wonderful to learn more about this beautiful, close-knit community. However, as has been reported, it is frustrating that there continues to be a lack of jobs and transportation in the area. Maintaining a job as a disabled person who sometimes cannot drive, I was surprised by how few resources there are. In a class provided by the state of Maine, even the teacher mentioned that programs often don’t go up as far as The County.
Despite this, I want to extend a word of caution about how we decide to increase access to work in this area. With the recent sign-off of a data center in Limestone, there has been excited discussion about using “big tech to attract talent and increase job prospects.
This route is riddled with danger for our livelihood. Data centers, no matter how “green” they say they are, wreck the natural environment around them. They gobble up resources and pollute everything they touch. Journalists at More Perfect Union highlight this with their coverage of those living close to data centers. For one homeowner, for instance, the lights from a recently built data center flood her house every evening. When she turns on her taps, which are run by her well, only drips of brown water come out. Her electricity bill is through the roof. (Some estimates put energy bills of surrounding neighborhoods at 250% higher, post construction.)
The “job boom” from data centers is also negligible, according to Mother Jones —an overstatement from developers who only want resources. Sure, there will be construction jobs, but only a few people are needed to run a data center once the construction is complete. It would not solve our current predicament.
The important thing to know about technology developers is that local resources and people are only a means to an end for them. They do not care about us, the natural beauty of Aroostook County, or about lifting the area out of poverty. They only want to enrich themselves and perhaps leave us crumbs.
We deserve better.
Jasper Brown
Presque Isle
