Preceding a data center summit in Jefferson City, roughly 100 Missourians gathered on Wednesday to rally against the development and construction of the centers across the state.
Protesters lined up along Oil Well Road, where cars had to drive by to reach the data center summit held at the Capitol Bluffs Center.
The summit, labeled as an education event, was limited to members of the Missouri Association of Counties, Missouri Municipal League and the Missouri School Boards' Association. Vendors, corporate partners and the public were not allowed to participate, which angered opponents of the centers.
"Even though the people who live, work, and farm at the front lines of these industrial invasions have the most at stake," said Olivia Stockman with the Missouri Rural Crisis Center.
Protesters chanted, waved at passersby and listened to the series of speeches given by people who would be affected by data centers from all parts of the state.
They included Gabe Cotton of Festus, where citizens in April voted to oust four city council members who were in favor of a data center and have attempted to recall three other members as well as the mayor.
"They are only digging their hole deeper, and we will remove them from office. This has and will continue to be an ongoing battle, and we will keep winning, because our community refuses to sit down," Cotton said.
He added that Festus doesn't have to be an anomaly when it comes to pushing back against data centers.
"The story of Festus is the story of any small town fighting a well-funded industrial monster that is working to harm it. You have the power to stop it," Cotton said.
Another area of the state seeing pushback to data center development is Joplin. Speaking to the crowd, resident Brenna Bower said she has watched her community come together to fight data center development.
"The people who live, farm and work at the front lines of these massive industrial encroachments deserve to have their voices heard. They have the most at stake, and they have a right to know what the impact would be for their communities, natural resources, farmland, and economic livelihoods," Bower said.
The rally was held shortly after Amazon announced the building of a multibillion-dollar data center in Montgomery County.
Harry Cope, who is running for presiding commissioner of Montgomery County, said corporations are underpaying what they should in taxes for these data centers.
"We probably can't stop them, but for God's sakes, at least make them contribute their fair share," Cope said.
Protecting Missouri's environment, including water resources, was on the minds of many attendees. KJ McDonald, of Joplin, said her top priority is protecting Missouri's water, which would be threatened by large use at data centers.
"In southwest Missouri, we have been on the verge of drought for many years. We've actually just barely moved out of the fear of drought recently," McDonald said.
McDonald said the centers need more public input.
"There are definitely people who see the value in needing to have data centers clearly. We have a lot of technology that we use in our day-to-day lives, and there is necessary infrastructure for that," McDonald said. "But everybody believes that this was pushed through really quickly without very much public input."
Elyse Schaeffer, with the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, said that without proper regulations, data centers will cause issues for Missouri's water, electric and human resources.
"We stand here today, nearly a mile from the shore of one of our state's many great rivers, the Missouri River itself, our state's water resources are under attack by tech billionaires who want to literally suck Missouri dry."
Schaeffer also mentioned St. Charles, which has a permanent moratorium on large-scale data centers.
"We did it here in Missouri. This is the Show-Me State and to data center developers, we say 'Show us you can do it right or do not do it at all,'" Schaeffer said.
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