Excerpt from “Coming to some of Pennsylvania’s most picturesque places: data centers” by Emilie Lounsberry:
Maya van Rossum, the longtime Delaware Riverkeeper, who also heads a coalition to promote the passage of environmental rights amendments in other states, said the data centers could be a big test for the strength of Pennsylvania’s amendment. It might take several years for legal challenges to work through the state court system.
“There’s incredible power at the state and local level if we grab hold of it,” van Rossum said.
She said it has been heartbreaking to listen to residents who grew up in rural areas worried that their bucolic natural areas are “being ripped away” by the explosion of data center proposals.
“The ramifications to our environment, to our health, to our safety, to hotels and beds and breakfasts … are devastating for an entire community. Nobody gets left untouched,” van Rossum said. “It really brings tears to your eyes.”
