Stop Subsidizing Data Centers and Nuclear Power: Invest in Community-Owned Renewable Energy for New York

In recent years, proposals for gigantic data centers and new nuclear power stations have swept across New York, promising economic growth but delivering little to struggling communities. Data centers consume vast amounts of electricity and water, often more than entire states, while providing few permanent jobs. Nuclear power remains inherently dangerous, expensive, and centralized, with a legacy of environmental risks and unresolved waste issues.

Despite decades of subsidies, upstate New York communities like Oswego County have not seen widespread prosperity from nuclear plants. Instead, these projects intensify inequality by consolidating wealth and control in the hands of large corporations, while leaving local residents with the environmental and economic costs.

New York needs a different path: one that invests in decentralized, community-owned solar and geothermal energy, and retrofits existing buildings for efficiency. These solutions create good union jobs, keep energy dollars local, and empower residents to shape their own energy future. Our state has thousands of workers ready to modernize their communities, and their children deserve a future powered by clean, safe, and democratic energy.

We call on our elected officials to stop pouring billions into corporate data centers and nuclear power. Instead, invest in renewable energy projects and building upgrades that benefit all New Yorkers—not just wealthy corporations. Let's build a just, sustainable, and prosperous New York for generations to come.