Democrats and Republicans are joining forces to fight data centres in Ohio
asserted
Democrats → join → Ohio
Rare bipartisan backlash is a growing problem for Republicans in key battleground state
Sherri Fahringer admits she's become completely consumed by the fight she’s waging.
asserted
she → grow → fight
Her emotions range from anger to disappointment.
asserted
emotions → range → disappointment
When she speaks, there’s a sense of exhaustion and, at times, even hopelessness.
asserted
she → speak → times
Across the street from her two-storey home in a rural community in central Ohio, plans are underway to transform neighbouring farmland into a sprawling data centre complex.
asserted
plans → transform → complex
Fahringer says publicly accessible documents at the city's planning office show there will be 15 separate buildings with diesel generators and 24/7 industrial lighting.
asserted
documents → say → generators
She says these plans weren't shared with her or her husband when they purchased the home about a year ago.
asserted
they → say → home
I don’t know what it’s going to do physically, emotionally, financially," she said during an interview with CBC News at her home in the village of Commercial Point, Ohio.
asserted
she → know → Point
"I’m not wealthy.
asserted
I → ’m → ?
I can’t afford to abandon my house or take a loss on it," she said.
asserted
she → afford → it
"I don’t know what we’re going to do."
asserted
we → know → what
In an attempt to fight back, the public health worker has teamed up with an unlikely ally.
asserted
worker → fight → ally
Fahringer, who identifies as a liberal Democrat voter, is working with Amanda Wasmus, a conservative Republican.
asserted
who → identify → Wasmus
"I met Sherri because she shares the same passion.
asserted
she → meet → passion
How do we get this to stop?" Wasmus said during an interview at Fahringer’s kitchen table.
asserted
Wasmus → get → table
"We all moved thinking this was rural America … and that is slowly slipping away," Wasmus said.
asserted
Wasmus → move → ?
"I have opened up and talked to people that maybe in the past I wouldn’t have talked to," Farhinger said.
asserted
Farhinger → open → past
In this moment of extreme polarization — when friendships and family dynamics can deteriorate because of divergent political views — opposition to the construction of data centres has been cutting through traditional divides.
asserted
opposition → deteriorate → divides
Polling in the state has consistently shown development and the pace of expansion is unpopular with the majority of residents.
asserted
pace → show → residents
That includes the results of a poll released earlier this month by the Ohio Northern University Institute for Civics and Public Policy, in partnership with SurveyUSA.
asserted
That → include → SurveyUSA
The survey, conducted this month as a standard poll, found a clear majority of respondents oppose the growth of data centres in the state.
asserted
majority → conduct → state
What's behind the growing backlash toward AI data centres?
asserted
What → grow → centres
Data centres are unpopular in Alberta, poll suggests.
uncertain
poll → suggest → Alberta
State lawmakers and industry tracking groups estimate there are more than 200 data centres in the state that are either active or under construction.
asserted
that → track → construction
Citing numbers it compiled in 2024, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce says the state has attracted more than $40 billion in private investment for data centre development by 2030.
asserted
state → cite → 2030
The organization also says the investment has supported more than 95,000 jobs.
asserted
investment → say → jobs
Critics have raised questions about how many long-term jobs these kinds of projects actually create in communities.
asserted
kinds → raise → communities
A study by the Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C.-based think-tank, found that job growth largely depended on the type of facility.
asserted
growth → find → facility
One of the study's key takeaways was that "data centres do create local jobs, though fewer than industry advocates claim."
Fahringer, left, and Wasmus meet at Fahringer's home earlier this month to strategize about how to prevent the transformation of farmland near their rural Ohio community into a sprawling data centre complex.
uncertain
Fahringer → create → complex
With Democrats and Republicans like Fahringer and Wasmus working together, it’s become a looming issue for one party more than the other.
asserted
it → work → other
He’s called for more development to take place faster and with fewer guardrails.
asserted
development → call → guardrails
And that isn’t sitting well with members of his MAGA base, who he needs to show up at the polls in November.
asserted
he → sit → November
"It’s a no-brainer, I voted for Trump," Wasmus said.
asserted
Wasmus → ’ → Trump
She pauses and shrugs disapprovingly before answering her own question.
"It is what it is.
asserted
it → pause → question
I voted for him, but I could care less at this point."
uncertain
I → vote → point
Wasmus says she doesn't plan to vote for the incumbent Republican senator in the upcoming midterm elections.
asserted
she → say → elections
While she's not a voter who makes up her mind solely on one issue, the data centre fight is part of her broader disappointment.
asserted
fight → make → disappointment
That sentiment is what Republicans in Ohio are concerned about in the battleground state.
asserted
Republicans → concern → state
Polls suggest the race is a toss-up between the incumbent, Republican Sen. Jon Husted, and the Democrat challenger Sherrod Brown.
asserted
race → suggest → incumbent
Early in the election campaign, Democrats identified data centres as a source of bipartisan frustration.
asserted
Democrats → identify → frustration
…and 38 more, not listed.
The Aporia
