A Data Center Revolt in Missouri
5/7/202621 min
Around the country, there’s been a construction boom in AI data centers, but opposition is surging too. In the small town of Festus, Missouri, a $6 billion project angered residents, leading to the removal of local council members and a campaign to recall the mayor. WSJ's Will Parker explains how intense local pushback is changing where data centers are built. Ryan Knutson hosts. Further Listening: - More Coding, Less Slop? Why OpenAI Ditched Sora
- The AI Economic Doomsday Report That Shook Wall StreetSign up for WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 10:00
[tense music] [crowd shouting] Criminals.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:08
In March, more than 100 residents of a small Missouri town gathered in a high school gymnasium to watch a city council vote.
Will Parker· Guest0:17
[crowd shouting] Things got heated.
Sam Richards· Guest0:23
[percussive music] [crowd shouting] I hope your kids hate you twice.
Speaker 10:28
Bill 4876.
Will Parker· Guest0:31
People were there to do quite a bit of shouting.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:33
That's our colleague, Will Parker.
Will Parker· Guest0:36
[crowd shouting] Uh, and to make it clear how angry they are sometimes with, um, you know, a peppery, uh, expletive-laden language.
Ryan Knutson· Host0:46
[crowd shouting] The city council vote, and all the chaos that surrounded it, was over a proposal to build a data center. [crowd shouting] Residents swore at the council members as they were called on to vote.
Speaker 11:04
[beep] Councilman Hook.
Speaker 01:08
[beep] criminals.
Speaker 11:10
Councilman Tenet.
Ryan Knutson· Host1:11
[crowd shouting] But despite the opposition, the data center proposal passed.
Speaker 11:17
Bill 4876 has passed.
Unknown speaker1:21
[beep] [crowd shouting]