East Fishkill was the site for New York’s second-biggest data center proposal. The town has taken the controversial issue into its own hands and passed a three-year moratorium, while Governor Hochul considers a bipartisan bill passed earlier this month that would establish a one-year moratorium statewide.
Dozens of Hudson Valley residents and advocates from Food & Water Watch, Indivisible 845 and For The Many gathered yesterday outside East Fishkill’s Town Hall to demand the Town Board stop Treetop’s proposal for a massive data center in East Fishkill and enact a local three-year moratorium on data centers. Impacted community members called on elected officials across the state and country to pass moratoriums to create regulations for the significant environmental impacts, loss of public funds, and electricity costs associated with data centers.
The moratorium measure passed.
“The people of East Fishkill and the Hudson Valley have made it abundantly clear: The don’t want massive, noisy, polluting, expensive data centers in their backyards, and they’re ready to show up and fight to protect their communities,” said Melissa Hoffmann, Organizer with Food & Water Watch. “The people of East Fishkill have spoken. Now, we need the rest of our elected officials to meet the moment and stand with their constituents, just like the leaders of East Fishkill have. “Governor Hochul must get with the program and make a statewide moratorium on the law. If Congressman Lawler was smart, he would support the same action at the federal level.”
East Fishkill’s three-year moratorium comes on the heels of towns including Lysander, Oneonta, North Tonawanda passing moratoriums on data centers, the town of Dryden passing a ban on data centers, and Monroe County passing a resolution in support of a moratorium. The town of Brookhaven on Long Island will consider an 18 month moratorium at their next town board meeting on July 16th. Meanwhile, Governor Hochul is considering a one-year statewide moratorium bill passed by the legislature earlier this month. If the 1 year moratorium bill is signed into law, municipalities like East Fishkill will still be able to keep their longer moratoriums.
Congressman Mike Lawler, who has several data center proposals in his district, including proposals in Orangeburg, East Fishkill and at Indian Point in Buchanan, has thus far failed to support a federal moratorium like the one introduced in the U.S. House by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
The rally and passage of the three-year moratorium came amidst growing opposition to AI data centers across the state and country. Residents of towns where data centers are being proposed are stepping up to fight back against noise pollution, increased water consumption and electricity costs, grid instability, and environmental damage that would result if data centers are built.
