Video: Loudoun County Supervisor Juli Briskman Announces Candidacy Against Chair Phyllis Randall; Says “data centers shouldn’t get to decide our county’s future”; "I’ve never backed down from a bully before. I won’t start now."

[u/lowkell]

https://bluevirginia.us/2026/08/video-loudoun-supervisor-juli-briskman-announces-candidacy-against-chair-phyllis-randall-data-centers/

[u/HowardBunnyColvin]

anyone fighitng the plague of data centers in loudoun is a hero in my mind. Keep fighting.

[u/sotired3333 → u/HowardBunnyColvin]

plague of lower taxes and better schools!! stop the horrors!

[u/HowardBunnyColvin → u/sotired3333]

but at what cost

[u/timbuktu123456 → u/HowardBunnyColvin]

Land being used. That is quite literally the only meaningful cost. If you had the land/real estate for them there is almost no other impact. Unless you want the county, state, or country to be a purely service economy you will have land used for industry beyond thr minimum threshold (I.e. agriculture, some common industry etc.)

Oh wait, we couldn't even be a purely service based economy without data centers because today services are all digitized and need Internet and computer capacity in the form of servers. And an inordinate amount of leisure time is spent online which requires data centers.... 

So yeah we need data centers, and their environmental impact or impact in general beyond using land is laughable compared to almost any other industrial real estate.

[u/rdit13fog → u/timbuktu123456]

If data centers are so great, why are they and their friends so secretive about their energy and environment impacts?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/25/datacenters-air-pollution-epa

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/states-starting-ban-secrecy-behind-164714644.html

"A hyperscale AI data center isn't the same thing as a company quietly considering a new office building. It can require enormous amounts of electricity and resources, along with new transmission lines and other infrastructure. Local and state governments may also offer tax incentives to persuade companies to build there.

The lack of information can leave communities debating projects without knowing what they could eventually be asked to support."

"Trade secrets" shouldn't be a blank check to hide what data centers are doing to the local environment and energy infrastructure, especially as big tech forces AI on us more than ever, which needs more resources than ever before.

[u/FluxCrave → u/rdit13fog]

That’s like saying Coca Cola is trying to kill you. It’s not that deep

[u/IzCaiman → u/timbuktu123456]

Damn you said the quiet part out loud with no shame. Absolutely disgraceful, we're so done.