Sorry, governor. Opposing data centers doesn’t make us sheep.

While arguing against data center moratoriums, Gov. Mark Gordon recently told Wyomingites to “lead, follow, or get out of the way.” He attributed the quote to Gen. George Patton, his great-uncle. The core of the full quote is simple: We herd sheep, drive cattle and lead people. The quote fails to capture that Wyoming citizens are sovereign. We are not livestock and we are not soldiers serving at the command of the governor. 

Asking questions about the unprecedented data center build-out in Wyoming and its’ impact on our grid, the long-term and cumulative strain on our regional resources, tax incentives, and the “business park” siting loophole does not make us fearful sheep. It means we are civically responsible American citizens participating in democracy and exercising our constitutional rights.

For decades, Wyoming has eagerly hosted massive booms. We were told to unquestioningly open our doors to industries such as oil, gas and coal and were promised prosperity if we would just get out of the way. How quickly we forget the impact on the host communities who were left to deal with the fallout when the market shifted and those companies packed up. Imagine where those communities could be now had they demanded long-term protection and permanent community benefits. Imagine what Wyoming would look like today if our leaders had the foresight to demand more for our people instead of letting industry dictate the terms. How many times must we learn this hard lesson?

Now, we are being asked to repeat history with artificial intelligence and data centers. Our local governments have been captured by corporate America. Rather than protecting the communities that elected them, they are signing nondisclosure agreements, fast-tracking data centers through the “business park” loophole and changing local zoning regulations to minimize the public’s voice. Permitting data centers in business parks allows these power-hungry, resource-consumptive, industrial complexes to bypass the Industrial Siting Act process, where cumulative impacts on our communities and environment would be studied rather than assessed in isolation, with no studies on the impact to our hospitals, housing and job markets. What happened to government of the people, by the people and for the people? Our public offices are not meant to serve as a taxpayer-funded concierge service for the wealthiest companies in the history of the world.

If these multibillion-dollar corporations wanted to be good neighbors, they would offer actions instead of words while running us over at city council meetings. Instead, they target local nonprofits and specific businesses, handing out scraps to further their interests. This is not neighborly. This is a strategic corporate investment in return for financial dependence, silence and compliance to ensure no one speaks up at public hearings. A good neighbor doesn’t tell us what we need. A good neighbor sits down with the residents whose lives are being upended and asks them what they need. The people who live here should be benefiting from their intrusive presence, not just a local government that counts the increasing property tax revenue while its citizens are sidelined.

We can meet modern challenges head-on. But the Wyoming way does not have to mean blindly following, like sheep, without a plan. We need leadership that will protect the citizens who will still be living, working and raising families here long after the corporate executives have moved back to Silicon Valley.

James Madison, a Founding Father and architect of our democracy, warned about this present danger over two centuries ago by stating that “the power of all corporations ought to be limited … the growing wealth acquired by them never fails to be a source of abuses.”

Do not tell us to get out of the way. Invite us to sit at the table that we the people bought and paid for.