WATCH: On Senate floor, Wyden calls for fast-track passage of key legislation to protect public lands from data center development
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden today introduced and sought to pass legislation that would ban the sale or transfer of federally-owned public lands for the purpose of developing new data centers and associated infrastructure in Oregon and nationwide.
Introduction of the bill follows recent reports that the Trump administration is considering the transfer of more than 17,000 acres of public land across Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah to build 12 new data centers. Further reporting confirms that the administration is eyeing a parcel of federal land in Eastern Oregon near Hermiston, Ore., for development.
Wyden worked to pass his legislation on the floor earlier today through a fast-track legislative process, citing the urgent need for Congress to act before the administration sets this dangerous precedent.
“Donald Trump and his allies have taken every opportunity to chip away at what belongs to the American people. All in an effort to boost profits for corporations and secure bigger campaign support for themselves,” Wyden said on the Senate floor. “Congress must not let the Trump administration establish a dangerous precedent that our public lands are a fire-sale inventory for development by the highest bidder.”
Text of the legislation is here.
A web version of this release is here.
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