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Nearly half of Long Islanders support slowing the development of large data centers

Nearly half of Long Islanders support slowing the development of large data centers

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Nearly half of Long Islanders support slowing the development of large data centers, according to the results of a Newsday/Siena Research Institute poll, which highlighted growing concerns among New Yorkers.Data centers house the physical infrastructure for data storage, and technology giants say they are vital to the growing use of artificial intelligence.The poll found 47% of Long Islanders back a bill passed by the State Legislature on June 4 that would put a one-year pause on the permitting of large data centers. One in three, about 34%, said they were either in the middle, didn’t know enough or refused to answer the question. About 19% of Long Islanders said they thought a moratorium is bad for New York.Statewide, the results mirrored those on Long Island with 46% of New Yorkers saying a moratorium would be good for the state, 21% saying it would be bad, and 33% saying they were in the middle, didn’t know or refused to answer, according to the poll."Communities that are making this decision are focused on this. You’re weighing jobs, energy uses, the effect on water," Don Levy, executive director of the Siena Research Institute, told Newsday. Underneath those concerns is the question about AI and whether people feel it is going to be beneficial or they are threatened by it, he said.The Newsday poll was done in conjunction with the Siena Research Institute between June 17 and 23 among 412 registered voters on Long Island. The margin of error was 6.1%, meaning answers may vary by that amount. The regional survey was taken as a subsection of a statewide Siena poll that surveyed 1,120 voters and has a margin of error of 3.6%Keshia Clukey reports in NEWSDAY that the poll comes as hundreds of large-scale data centers are popping up around the country and municipalities across the state and Long Island weigh the benefits and potential negative impacts of the centers on their communities. A large-scale data center is being proposed in Yaphank in Suffolk County.Developers have touted the need for data centers, as well as the community investment and jobs they bring, largely through the construction of the facilities.But there are growing concerns over their massive energy consumption and use of water for cooling purposes, which put pressure on infrastructure, increase utility rates and raise questions surrounding environmental impact.If the bill is signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York would be the first state to put a moratorium on the development of more large-scale data centers.Jennifer Fowkes, 58, of East Hampton, told Newsday she is "really grateful" to the legislature for passing a moratorium. "There’s so much fear, misinformation, misunderstanding," said the Democrat who participated in the poll.Fowkes said the issue needs to be studied and expressed particular concern over the impact on water use and quality because Suffolk County sits on a sole source aquifer. "I don't think a year is long enough," she said, but "it’s a great start."The question on data centers particularly "stands out," because one-third of respondents statewide and on Long Island say either they are torn, or they don’t have enough knowledge to have an opinion, Levy said. "Certainly, to whatever extent this is a political issue, they could be wooed."***A federal judge yesterday dismissed the complaint challenging New York’s Even Year Election Law, throwing out the governmental plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice, while allowing the remaining non-governmental plaintiffs an opportunity to file a new complaint.Denise Civiletti reports on Riverheadlocal.com that in a sharply worded 22-page decision, U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown on Monday ruled that the remaining government plaintiffs could not pursue the federal constitutional claims, concluding they were barred by the prior state-court litigation, lacked standing and had no cause of action under the federal civil rights statute known as Section 1983.Barring further relief in the case, the ruling means Riverhead’s 2026 supervisor election is expected to proceed under the Even Year Election Law, with voters electing a supervisor this November to a two-year term that will align the town’s election cycle with even-numbered years.Judge Brown questioned the propriety of municipal governments participating in the litigation alongside partisan political organizations, calling government spending on the lawsuit "troubling," since there was lack of "evident injury" suffered by the government plaintiffs, citing RiverheadLOCAL’s reporting on more than $1.6 million in taxpayer-funded legal fees.Judge Brown granted the state’s motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint, dismissing the remaining governmental plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice. He also dismissed with prejudice the claims against the State of New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York State Board of Elections.Thus, government plaintiffs - Suffolk County and Huntington Town — have been dismissed from the ...
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