NYT: Meta got everything in secret Louisiana data center deal
A lot of what-the-hell moments in this story, but building a data center in a floodplain in Louisiana is inviting the wrath of Poseidon.
Cathy Newman ⚜️🐘78The middle of the Delta would certainly not have been my first choice for a large amount of expensive tech.
Great Bu65Should be no problem for cooling water when it all arrives by express delivery in one day....
Scott Larson46Corporations in Louisiana don't pay property taxes. That's why the state has a huge sales tax -- they let the people pay the taxes.
Estefano38Louisiana is totally crooked...see Mike Johnson and John Kennedy for examples. I am hoping for a massive storm surge to wipe this sucker out. And I do wonder if they have insurance on that monstrosity.
Chris32Hey if anyone's annoyed about this kind of thing, 2 min on gridgov.org will get you a full list of data center projects near you, plus the phone numbers of your representatives so you can tell them how you feel about it. We also donate to a great charity for every report run. Enjoy!
Pima Politico32Data Centers employ virtually no one, tank property values, bust the grid, guzzle ground water, emit constant light and noise. No one wants this data center shit.
Cheryl Lynn Eaton39I would like to know how these companies are getting insurance companies to offer up policies when companies like State Farm are kicking off homeowners left and right the minute a hurricane rolls through.
Drew McKevitt16The thing about this region is that if you want to do something big and horrible and you don't want anyone talking about it, you won't find a better place. There's a reason North Louisiana is also wherein this criminal administration chose to run its deportation logistics.
Iridium Wolf12What insurance company agreed to back this deal? Seems like a great way to lose a shitton of money.
functional moron10it’s crazy how blue owl capital just keeps showing up in stories about people being evil lol
Dumb Megan9Everyone needs to read this story and out everyone in it in jail. Zuckerberg first.
YIMBYonese Liberation Army9Louisiana may well be the worst governed state in the country. A century of give aways to oil and gas, petrochemicals, anyone who walks in the door… for what?
⚜️New Logic8This is stupid as f*ck, but you can't get this state to stop giving Repulicans control of the government.
David Brody7Meta Exec #1: Yes, I know we’re losing the race, but we have to keep building them. Meta Exec #2: But how will we recover the capex?? Meta Exec #1: Well… what if we could get a natural disaster bailout…
Bryan Culbertson 🥄5This single datacenter uses SEVEN times more energy than entire city of New Orleans, is receiving up to $10B in subsidies, will build TEN new GAS generators paid for by ratepayers, and bondholders (i.e. teacher's pensions) take on all risk of floods or other disasters NATIONWIDE DATACENTER BAN NOW!
Rachel Holliday Smith4what a must-read piece. also, shout out to @gulfstatesnewsroom.bsky.social @typeinvestigations.org and @floodlightnews.org, credited by the NYT for the work they did on this topic well before this published
“.. a nine-month process that $META used to cut deals behind the scenes, avoid local opposition and offload financial risk, according to interviews with more than 40 people and a review of corporate filings, tax records, property records ..” Incredible reporting. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/t...
Doug Otto11Ex-meta here. They always use an alternative company name when discussing new sites. They try to keep it secret as long as possible in the process.
Musical Form Institute7"a $50 billion data center for the Silicon Valley giant Meta that planners say could cover about six square miles and use seven times as much energy as New Orleans." Insanity.
biarritz45.bsky.social3The oil and gas industry has already exploited the entire economy of #Louisiana and its people. It's so poor. Nothing goes back there. No jobs, no infrastructure, no education no healthcare it's just - #poor. #Meta is continuing that same exploitation. #datacenters
JP3Tough to do alt text or gift links, I suppose. Thank goodness there are still heroes out there for us… bsky.app/profile/meli...
Ben2Beaver Dam WI knows how this game is played. Politicians and local governments signing NDAs and using shell corps to hide their deal with Meta.
fathefree.bsky.social2I have a feeling all these datacenters being built in red states will screw over all of the people who live there
Maurice.bsky.social3It’s criminal. The damage they do is permanent.
It Ain't Me.2It's legit insane that the same politicians elected to protect us from corporations are allowed massive donations from those same corporations. Even when these manipulative schemes are exposed, there's zero accountability. It's not tenable.
Harnessing anti-data center sentiment is good but unless it can be funneled into getting tech giants to pay for grid upgrades as part of going in they're just going to keep building them in the poorest parts of the South www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/t...
Louis36Sometimes killing Glonzo just sends him to the jurisdiction with the least sociopolitical power
whet moser9this is the really depressing part of it, i suspect most of the opposition is ambivalent to data centers being built in the black south and driven by turbines powered by used motor oil
waffle house final boss3200,000 sqft building that employs 8 people with masters degrees. Love this for Louisiana
feathers-mc-graw.bsky.social1before we get subsumed in glonzo talk I would recommend reading the article. the back room deal started in april 2024. I don't remember data centers being on the tops of peoples mind then like it is now. and most of the locals cited are supportive of the data centers (some have certainly been hurt)
Ed99yup. the glonzos that people keep imputing to data centers means they will keep going to the poorest places we've got, and those places frequently do not have the institutional will to require or to enforce compensating controls like green energy requirements hope they're happy!
Zoomer Antimillenarian37Better for clean, noise-controlled, green energy funding data centers to be built in blue states than for this to happen.
Maggie McNeill6No surprise to anyone who grew up in Louisiana. Walt Disney LOVED New Orleans and wanted to build Walt Disney World there. He was disillusioned when crooked politicians of the sort in this article bought up all the land he looked at so as to profit from the deal. Corruption is endemic there.
"The secrecy was agreed to by nearly everyone involved, from utility executives to the governor’s office to a local elected official who knew about the talks with Meta and sold 300 acres of his own property for the project."
Lynn Spann Bowditch1Can private persons purchase C4? Asking for a friend.
bd-nola.bsky.social1My very MAGA in laws who live not far away are seriously pissed off about Meta’s water usage that farmers badly need and electricity prices going up. Sure this helps a few small areas but people that will be impacted live and farm miles away. Mr. Landry has not done himself any favors (again).
This article encapsulates everything that is wrong with Louisiana--corruption, racism, neglect of the environment. This state has so much more potential than what greedy capitalism will allow it. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/27/t...
Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her)72"A $50 billion data center for the Silicon Valley giant Meta that planners say could cover about six square miles [will] use seven times as much energy as New Orleans." Gift article h/t @christinekooi.bsky.social Money in politics = the collapse of democracy and oligarchs stealing everything. 1/
Nire Bryce5if they're honest companies why do they keep making shadowy deals behind the back of the public? if they aren't honest companies why are we giving them anything
My Password is Louvre4The neat thing about data centers is that fire destroys them
