I’ve seen some dark days in this country—times when our elected leaders have had self-serving agendas of their own, and everyday Americans came together to make it clear we need to protect the things that matter most to us, not to them. And I know I’m not alone in thinking we could be on the verge of one of those moments when voters make it clear they’ve had enough of corporate cronyism when they cast their ballots this November. Across the country, concerns about corruption and the outsized influence of corporate money in politics are reaching a fever pitch.
There’s a good reason for that. President Trump and his accomplices are raking it in at every opportunity. That corruption is on the ballot this November 3.
But the corruption doesn’t stop at the top: corporate interests are also trying to throw their weight around on issues found lower down our ballots. One clear example of this trend is Proposition 45 in California, which was put before voters by the California Chamber of Commerce and is being heavily bankrolled by data center developers, oil and gas interests, and for-profit utilities. The measure claims it will make California more affordable by dismantling critical safeguards for public health and the environment.
It would severely restrict public oversight for a long list of projects, including warehouses and data centers, pipelines, forest clear-cutting, and sprawl-style housing. This reduced public oversight in California could not come at a worse time. The Trump administration is aggressively dismantling clean air and clean water protections that Americans have counted on for the past half-century.
This measure would severely weaken the key environmental protection law in the state, making it easier for big corporations to pollute with less accountability to the communities where their projects are built. Prop 45’s proponents claim their goal is simply to bring down housing costs. If that’s the case, why have data center developers, oil and gas interests, and for-profit utilities like the infamous PG&E and Southern California Edison contributed more than $10 million to persuade voters to pass it?
This is not a riddle—the answer is simple. All voters need to do is follow the money. If this measure were really about affordability, it would include provisions to make sure the increased profits developers will reap translate into lower rents or caps on electricity bills to offset the impacts of the data center boom.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
