Greetings ,

Thank you to everyone who has come out to protest and stand in solidarity. Thank you to everyone who has attended our meetings and workshops. Thank you to everyone who has liked, shared, followed, and commented on our events and posts on Social Media. Thank you to everyone who has donated their time, effort, and money to our endeavors. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

We look forward to moving shoulder to shoulder with you into an already exhaustive 2026. Next up is a call to pack the next Columbia County Commission in response to the newest proposed data center. Regardless of which county you live in, you will be directly affected by the astronomically high electric bills, noise pollution, and environmental pollution resulting from these data centers.

Here is an excerpt from Janice Muller's talk at the recent Data Center Townhall presented by the Sierra Club at the Augusta UU:

"In total all 3 of these developments equate to :

4,500 total Acres of lost greenspace and at least 16 million square feet of data center buildings.

And this is just the beginning!

The entire “Technology and Industrial Character Area” identified by Columbia County in the new “Foundations for the Future” is approximately 8000 acres, encompassing all 4 corners of the I20 Appling/Harlem interchange.

In addition to this Data Center corridor, Georgia Power recently purchased close to 100 acres across from WOTP. It is our understanding they are also attempting to purchase adjacent properties and their goal is to install a power generation plant at that location.

In the new DC (data center) ordinance, it states “no wells will be drilled”, however a developer can ask for a variance. The county has been having discussion of “drilling into the aquifer” and obtaining an increase on their water withdrawal permit from the lake and/or Savannah River in an attempt to have additional water for further development throughout the county.

We only recently learned that the county is also looking into Geothermal drilling specifically for the data centers for either power or water.

There is so much more information to discuss about water usage, streams, creeks, wetlands, land disturbance, noise and light pollution, air pollution …. and the list goes on and on."

2/3/26 Local Action: Data Center Push Back

What: Board of Commissioners Meeting to approve Data Center zoning

When: Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026 6 PM

Where: Evans Government Center Auditorium Building A 630 Ronald Reagan Drive, Evans, GA 30809

Sign up in advance to make a public comment (5 minutes) by contacting [email protected]

We must remember that:

“The power of the people is much stronger than the people in power.” ― Wael Ghonim

Info on our next General Meeting is coming soon, so stay tuned!

Do you have friends that want to Join the Resistance? Forward them this email! It's going to take all hands on deck to create a better world for us all.