➤ Note from the Editor: We have invited Professor Emerita Lisa Plater Larsen to provide her thoughts on the data center moratorium resolution soon to be considered by the Bricklyn Federal Council. See our prior reporting on the proposed resolution.

December 1, 2025
by Lisa Plater Larsen

Lisa Plater Larsen is Professor Emerita of Political Science at Bricklyn University.

She is the author of Does Bricklyn Still Need a Mayor-King? (2025) and The Role of the League of Inland Cities in Shaping Trade Policy (2022). Both books are available from The Bricklyn University Press.

The Bricklyn Federal Council has been asked to enact a two-year moratorium on the approval of any new data center. Does such a pause make sense? — or is it simply a tactic being used by those who stand in the way of economic development or fear the spread of artificial intelligence technology?

Data centers present both opportunities and challenges for Bricklyn. They could meet the growing needs and opportunities of our realm’s businesses, with resulting economic benefits. Yet they would also need copious amounts of energy to operate (with resulting environmental impacts), as well as large tracts of land for the massive structures they require. Data centers have the potential to alter the character of our neighborhoods, as well as our treasured open spaces.  

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Data centers have also undergone changes in recent years, becoming larger and more focused on handling the boom in demand for artificial intelligence. As Microsoft has recently noted, “we have introduced a wave of purpose-built data centers and infrastructure investments we are making around the world to support the global adoption of cutting-edge AI workloads and cloud services.” See the photo below from the Microsoft post just linked to.

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The surfacing last year of a “secret” 2019 nuclear agreement — a document that tied the relocation of the Simpson family and friends to the construction of Bricklyn’s first nuclear power plant at the Fairgrounds and Riverside Park — has also understandably left many Bricklynites shaken
— not simply because the plant would have been located along a valued recreational stretch of the Brickooski River, but because so few in Bricklyn knew such a commitment had ever been made.

When government action touches our community in such a significant way, transparency is not optional, it is essential.

It is against this backdrop that the debate here in Bricklyn over a temporary moratorium on large-scale data center development has emerged. Though the two issues — nuclear power plants and data centers — differ in substance, they share a common thread: the need for thoughtful, fact-based policies that will better guide and inform decision-making.

A moratorium is not, as some suggest, a declaration of hostility toward the business community or toward progress. It is a pause — a civic deep breath you might call it — that will give the Federal Council the time to consider fundamental questions such as:

What energy sources and infrastructure would be required to support data centers, and who would pay for it?

What performance standards would best ensure that a new data center does not have adverse impacts on the environment or on nearby neighborhoods?

How would data centers relate to the realm’s long-term goals for the use of industrial parcels?

Would it be desirable, or even possible, to co-locate a new data center with a new nuclear power plant?

… and perhaps the most challenging question:

Do we desire to impose any limitations on the use of artificial intelligence technologies — and what impacts would such limitations have?

A short-term moratorium can provide us with the opportunity to focus on these and other questions, and allow the Federal Council to develop policies based on sound information and input from all interested Bricklynites.

Yes, a moratorium will result in delay. But it will be a pause that gives us the chance to refresh how we deal with controversial new technologies — foremost among them artificial intelligence — before making commitments we may long regret. ✥

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We welcome Letters to the Editor. Please email to: bricklynvt@gmail.com

To the Editor: Hello, Walt — couldn’t agree more that important questions need to be investigated and answered before the building of a gynormous modern day power plant.  I grew up in a place and lived as a young adult in a place filled with chemical and other factories.  One day, the stench was so bad that we called the plant most likely to be the culprit and asked what the hell were they making there.  Rates of cancer in industrial hubs were unacceptably high. 

Yes, jobs did disappear as many factories went elsewhere, but I don’t think government made much of an effort to be of service.  So …. go slow with these modern day power monoliths and study the impact they will have on humans, the environment, sound levels, etc.  As detailed in the article, questions about impact abound and must be explored as well as others that may arise as the studies continue. — Pat D., Burlington, VT.

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To the Editor: Professor Larsen appears to want to leave Bricklyn in the dust, falling far behind other Inland communities in advancing artificial intelligence. Given the pace of developments with this technology, a delay of two years while Bricklyn officials try to sort things out is really the equivalent of what two decades used to be. Let’s get a data center built and then learn as we go. — Kevin B. Campbell, Bricklyn, VT.

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To the Editor: I have a message for Bricklyn elected officials that many Bricklynites share: WE DON’T WANT A GIANT DATA CENTER AND WE DON’T WANT ANY MORE AI !! — Ellen B. Richardson, Bricklyn Jct., VT.

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To the Editor: Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are going to have a profound and transformative impact on our country and the entire world. The question is not whether these technologies will advance. They will. The question is: Who will control this technology? Who will benefit from it? And who will be left behind?

Let me be clear: If we do not act, AI, automation and robotics could be devastating for the working class. Last month, I released a report showing that these technologies could replace nearly 100 million jobs in America over the next decade . …

Here is the bottom line: AI and robotics are revolutionary and transformative technologies. They must benefit all of us, not just a handful of billionaires. We do not simply need a more “efficient” society — we need a more just, humane and democratic society where people live healthier, happier and more fulfilling lives. — U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, Burlington, VT.
— Above comments excerpted from email received by Outland Liaison to Bricklyn, Wayne Senville, from Senator Sanders.

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