Letter To The Editor: Alton Deserves More Than a Data Center
Kyle Nudo calls for independent economic and environmental assessments before approval, questioning how TerraWatt’s proposed development would affect local jobs, resources and long-term prosperity.
Letter To The Editor:
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As a former candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Illinois’ 15th Congressional District, and someone who has spent a career fighting for working people and challenging the concentration of wealth and power, I believe Alton deserves far more than a sales pitch about investment, tax revenue and the economy of the future. I have seen what happens when outside interests extract value from a community while ordinary people are left to absorb the consequences.
We deserve an honest accounting of what TerraWatt’s proposed Riverbend Technology Center will deliver; and what it could cost us. We should begin with a hard question: What will this development take from Alton, and what will it leave behind?
Data centers are often sold to communities on projections that deserve rigorous scrutiny. Construction jobs are temporary. Permanent staffing is comparatively limited. These are not necessarily the union jobs, living wages and career pathways that sustain families across generations—the kind of work a father can pass down to his son. Too often, the employment resembles a modern form of migrant labor: workers arrive for a project, the work ends, and they move on. Meanwhile, the wealth generated by these facilities is unlikely to reach ordinary people in anything like the massive profits the tech bros will reap. This is not a recipe for shared prosperity; it risks exacerbating local poverty while concentrating wealth elsewhere.
What does Alton gain from that bargain?
I believe firmly that the ultimate purpose of artificial intelligence, as pursued by today’s technology oligarchs, is to eliminate human labor. Their business model depends on replacing workers, reducing payrolls and concentrating the resulting wealth among those who own the technology. We are being asked to sacrifice enormous resources to build the infrastructure for a future in which fewer people may have meaningful employment, economic security or a fair share of the wealth their work creates.
The proposed site raises urgent environmental questions. Its proximity to the Mississippi River, surrounding wetlands and wildlife demands independent, rigorous scrutiny. We must understand the consequences of massive energy consumption, water use, noise, pollution and any potential effects on these interconnected ecosystems. Alton deserves transparent answers, not assurances from companies whose financial interests are invested in the outcome.
And then there is the question few technology executives seem willing to confront: What happens when these facilities are deemed no longer economically viable?
I believe we could be less than a decade away from a world in which today's massive data centers become obsolete, overtaken by new technologies, changing economics or different computing architectures. That is a risk we must consider before committing our community's future to this industry. These buildings require immense capital, infrastructure, electricity and other critical resources. Their useful lives are not guaranteed.
The techno-feudalists promising us tomorrow's prosperity will not necessarily be here to answer for tomorrow's failures.
We have seen this story before. Think of a dead strip mall, hollowed out by private equity: the profitable assets extracted, the value stripped away, the community left with a deteriorating shell. Imagine that same outcome on an industrial scale, after we have committed our land, resources and environmental future to a single industry.
I want Alton to prosper. I want good jobs, a healthy environment and a future in which our children can build lives here. That means demanding development that creates lasting value rather than betting everything on the promises of powerful investors.
Before Alton approves this proposal, our leaders must demand independent environmental and economic assessments, enforceable commitments to local employment and public revenue, and legally binding plans for decommissioning and site restoration. The public deserves to know the full costs, the risks and the alternatives.
Alton must not trade a living community for a technological monument to somebody else's ambition. Our future should belong to the people who live here. Not to the next generation of absentee owners who arrive promising prosperity and leave when the profits disappear.
Kyle Nudo
Former U.S. Congressional Candidate, Illinois’ 15th District
Opinions expressed in this section are solely those of the individual authors and do not represent the views of RiverBender.com or its affiliates. We provide a platform for community voices, but the responsibility for opinions rests with their authors.
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