Data center moratorium, open primaries, single-payer healthcare

Debate over local data center curbs

I am glad the Town of Brookhaven will likely institute an 18-month moratorium on data center construction, but it’s only a Band-Aid [“Developers tout data center,” News, June 20].

Instead of residents being subjected to a patchwork of municipal actions on data centers, though, Gov. Kathy Hochul should sign the one-year moratorium on new data centers recently passed by the State Legislature.

A state moratorium would give time to evaluate the power, water, and health impacts of these projects and develop guidelines to protect the environment and the surrounding communities.

Without a statewide moratorium, we will see a chaotic patchwork of efforts to either welcome data centers without sufficient oversight or keep digital infrastructure entirely out of our communities.

We need consistent, logical, and enforceable regulations to keep data centers from proliferating with negative pollution and noise impacts on communities, on the power grid, land use, and water resources.

Just as the state has developed safety protocols for battery energy storage facilities, we need data centers subjected to informed scrutiny and regulation. New York needs an affordable and renewable energy future, and with their huge need for electricity, data centers must be part of that picture.

— Jane Fasullo, Setauket

A developer, the property’s owner, wants to allow the creation of a data center in its recently constructed three-building, 549,000- square-foot project in Yaphank.

The zoning is light industrial with no specific prohibition to this use. There is clearly no issue with “the look” of the warehouses since that would have been addressed before a building permit was issued.

The use will not cause any unusual levels of traffic. The Long Island Power Authority said it does not anticipate any reliability concerns. There will be no additional land clearing. And there will be no pass-down costs to LIPA/PSEG ratepayers.

And this project is in jeopardy because some community groups and activists wonder why the facility is needed. Really?

So now, a property owner’s economic benefits are being taken away.

This is a glaring illustration of why Long Island is known to some as the land of “no.” What a shame.

— Jeff Schwartzberg, Jericho

Let independent LI voters into primaries

Voter turnout was low at multiple primary polling sites on Long Island [“LI primaries could lead to swing-seat showdowns,” News, June 24]. If you listen carefully, you can hear all the registered independent voters screaming.

When the two-party system has seemingly outlived its purpose, it is ridiculous that registered independents cannot vote in primaries. I am constantly around teenagers, and this is confusing to many of them. They are the future and they shouldn’t have to ask why there are only two choices.

President Abraham Lincoln concluded that this is a “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Independents are the people, too.

— Susan Hennings-Lowe, Huntington

Lower living costs with new health law

A recent Newsday/Siena Research Institute poll found that 8 in 10 Long Islanders fear the affordability crisis will force out younger generations “LI’s crisis of affordability,” News, June 28].

Long Island residents have been dealing with the affordability crisis for years. For most, the cost of living keeps rising, regardless of political rhetoric. Talk is cheap, so we need action. Residents have every right to be concerned, and the lack of optimism is understandable.

Single-payer healthcare is a solution to address the cost of living on Long Island. For decades, the State Legislature has delayed passing the New York Health Act. In its current form, the act would lower healthcare costs for 90% of New Yorkers — an average savings of $10,000 per household — meaning no more copays and deductibles.

Passing the Health Act could lead to savings for our school districts, towns, and counties. That’s millions of dollars in healthcare costs savings that could lead to lower property taxes. So, no hurdles to healthcare and money back in our pockets. That’s a solution to this crisis I think most can get behind.

Residents are demanding better from our leaders. Are our leaders listening, and are they taking action?

— Joe Sackman, Hicksville

The writer is executive director of the Long Island Progressive Coalition.