“The earth is the Lord’s and all it holds, the world and those who dwell in it. For he founded it on the seas, established it over the rivers. Who may go up the mountain of the Lord? Who can stand in his place? ‘The clean of hand and pure of heart, who has not given his soul to useless things, what is vain’”. Psalm 24:1-4
As Catholics, we are called to care for God’s creation; we are stewards of God’s beautiful earth. However, society’s demand for cheap, and near limitless, things to buy makes it difficult to take care of the earth. Our unquenchable thirst and hunger for oil and coal demonstrate that, for the most part, we only take from mother nature and not give back. Despite our slow efforts to care for God’s creation, many states in the US are taking active steps to fight climate change and protect the environment. For example, the polluting Monroe Coal Plant in Monroe, Michigan, is slated to fully close by 2032 (instead of 2040 originally slated by the owning utility). Additionally, Michigan recently passed a 2040 carbon-free standard for the state’s electricity. Unfortunately, the progress towards clean energy is in danger due to the unexpected growth and demand for data centers.
Data centers are experiencing rapid growth because they support artificial intelligence, data retention, and access to “the cloud”. Not only are Google, Microsoft, and Amazon using data centers, automakers and other technology companies utilize data centers in their everyday operations. These companies, and we to some respect, are becoming increasingly dependent on data centers growing. These data centers must run 24/7, which means that they need constant energy and constant running water for cooling. Michigan is a prime location for data centers, but it is not the only targeted state.
Let’s look at Virginia, for example. Despite the states having its own carbon-free mandate, an investor-owned utility named Dominion Energy announced that it will build new gas plants to generate the electricity required for data centers (Noe-Payne, 2024).
With the 2024 general election in the rearview mirror, Michigan lawmakers in Lansing are working to pass various bills, including 2023’s House Bill 4906 & Senate Bill 237. HB 4906/SB 237 were introduced to provide tax exemptions for data centers being built in our state. While arguments for job growth are used to defend attracting data centers, environmentalists and other critics point out that data centers would derail our 2040 climate goals (Perkins, 2024). Most importantly, our brothers and sisters in environmental justice communities (communities most readily affected by historic and prolonged pollution) are raising the alert on these legislative bills (Allnutt, 2024). Not only could data centers delay our goal to have carbon-free energy, but the Great Lakes ecosystem would also be in danger. Without any water and energy protections, our Great Lakes will be polluted, and our electricity will remain dirty. We ask that you call your elected officials and ask them to protect our environment and include robust language that explicitly protects our waters and energy.
As Christians, we have a duty to care for creation. King David reminds us in Psalm 24 that the earth belongs to God (which parallels the Church belonging to Christ). Saint Paul tells the Roman Christian community that God’s nature is revealed through creation (Romans 1:20). Most significantly, Jesus himself tells his followers that God takes care of all the animals and the earth (Matthew 6). To care for creation, we need to ensure that all living beings on this planet survive and thrive. We need to be responsible for one another in our cultural over-consumption. We need to shift our fundamental understanding of the earth, from one of privilege and extraction to humility and accompaniment.