This week Gov. Whitmer has caved to data centers and the Enbridge Line 5 oil pipeline

It is not a good week for Michiganders, especially regarding any sense of environmental or climate justice. Gov. Whitmer has allowed new permits for Enbridge and she has essentially said that data centers are good for the state’s growth.

It is instructive to look at how Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has framed her most recent “plan” around data centers in Michigan. Check out the Press Release coming from the Governor’s office on July 15.

“It’s simple: any data center company that wants to invest in Michigan must ensure working families do not pay a single penny for data center development or operations, protect our natural resources, and create local, good-paying jobs,” said Governor Whitmer.

There are three main reasons why I believe that Gov. Whitmer has caved on the issue of data centers.

First, public opposition to data centers in Michigan has been incredible, as I noted in an article earlier this year. People are pushing back against most of the proposed data centers in Michigan and for good reason, yet Gov. Whitmer seems to be ignoring public sentiment. People do not want data centers built for a variety of reasons, such as the amount of land data centers would occupy, the amount of water they would use and the likely outcome that data centers would result in increased utility costs to the public.

Second, as was recently reported on by MLive, last year the Michigan Legislature passed bipartisan legislation to provide massive tax breaks to companies wanting to build data centers in Michigan. According to the MLive article:

They extended big tax breaks to the industry’s largest projects. Power-hungry data centers followed, with at least 25 major proposals now drawing increasing ire from residents pushing back against big computing facilities in their backyards.

Industry boosters say favorable tax treatment lured the projects. Others aren’t so certain. But the consequential bills made it across the finish line before many realized they could reshape the state.

This all happened on Gov. Whitmer’s watch and there was no attempt by her office to veto the tax breaks for data centers.

Third, over the past few years the cost of electricity has skyrocketed in Michigan. Anyone who sends money to Consumers Energy on a monthly basis knows exactly what I am talking about, since for many people electricity costs have nearly doubled in recent years and Consumers Energy is lobbying for another rate hike. In all of the rate hikes that have happened during Whitmer’s tenure as Governor she has not fought against these hikes. This isn’t surprising since Whitmer and the Democrats have received tens of thousands of dollars from Consumers Energy since 2018.

I don’t have any faith that Consumer’s Energy would sign the pledge that Gov. Whitmer has put forth, and even if they did they won’t honor such a pledge.

Lastly, this week we also saw the State of Michigan issue Line 5 permits to the corporate criminal entity known as Enbridge. These permits are specific to the Line 5 tunnel the company is proposing to build, despite massive public opposition. In 2017, when Gov. Whitmer was campaigning to become the Governor of Michigan she promised to shut down Line 5, yet 9 years later and that campaign promise is not come true, nor is it likely to happen.

When are we going to wake up and realize that voting for progressive candidates will not result in the kinds of structural changes we need. Instead, we need mass movements for revolutionary change that use direct action and collective resistance to create the kind of world we really want.