Hollenbeck: Think it over, please
My father died in 2012 at the age of 98. He had lived a good life, a life that was not always easy, especially through the Great Depression and the war years, but fortunately he was quite savvy right up to the end. In fact, he passed his driver’s license exam at the ripe old age of 96 and drove himself to and from his favorite eating spots, church, or wherever he wished to go. The only thing in his billfold was his driver’s license and some cash. He never had a credit card, nor did my mother, my in-laws or any of their friends and colleagues. Shortly before his driving days were over, my dad’s favorite gas station got new pumps and he was totally confused when he tried gassing up his car. He said, “I was supposed to push all kinds of buttons and insert a credit card, so I gave up and went to the Co-Op where I could get gas and go in and pay for it like I always did.” This man was one of the smartest people I ever knew; he could figure numbers in his head faster than most can on a calculator, he was known far and wide for his astute mechanical ability (not just on vehicles, but about anything including musical instruments), literally had a memory bank of songs in his head, etc., etc. But when he encountered any modern technology such as that gas pump, or computers, kiosks or computerized structures designed to facilitate customer transactions, he was lost.
Fast forward to 2026, where we encounter new and strange devices and their terminology almost on a daily basis and where it is nearly impossible to do any type of business without a credit card, a debit card, and a smart phone. Then, what to me is worse than all these “modern advancements” are things involving our lives and businesses that we do not understand…terms like “AI” and “Data Centers”, “Crypto” and “DVIM.” That is just the beginning of things that baffle me.
Trying to learn more about what some of these things are or what they mean or how they may or may not affect me is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. It makes me better understand my dad’s confusion at the gas pump. You can google these terms and try to research them but cannot seem to gain much knowledge about them. We are currently hearing about Data Centers and how they need and use tremendous amounts of water and I suppose, electricity. If you, like me, try to learn about any of this, you will probably be just as confused as I am. My biggest question regarding Data Centers, is “What is their purpose? Who owns them (and from what country)? How do they affect our local environment? How do they operate?” These are just common sense questions but no one seems to have an answer to. Another question is, “Why are communities rushing into allowing them in their midst?” I see a lot of people with the same questions and a lot of activity in communities throughout the United States where State, County and local governments are heavily involved with zoning and other types of regulations regarding Data Centers.
A neighbor contacted us recently about signing a petition in which, after proper verification of signatures, will place on the November general election ballot a five year moratorium on Data Centers in our county (which is Tripp County, South Dakota). If the citizens pass it, the County Commissioners will have to put in effect an ordinance stating we have a five-year moratorium on Data Centers. To me, this petition is a “no-brainer” to sign, as it is makes sense to take time to evaluate the entire situation before making any decisions to allow or disallow such facilities within our county. Hopefully my neighbor is not alone in petitioning local governments to be accountable for data center installations and that our leaders will take a deep breath to think this thing through.
