Any leftist or even liberal who supported Kyrsten Sinema back in the day abandoned any hope for her redemption years ago. Even though we've all seen just how far she's strayed from any leftist values she at one point claimed to have, the latest news on what Sinema's been up to is at least a tiny bit surprising, even if only in a "well, that's a new low, even for her" kind of way.
In case you missed it, Sinema has been out here in my neck of the woods lobbying the Chandler, Arizona, Planning and Zoning Commission on behalf of developer Active Infrastructure to approve the building of a big ol' AI data center. Or, as Common Dreams reporter Brad Reed so eloquently put it, "'Cartoon Villain' Ex-Senator Kyrsten Sinema Now Shilling for Big Tech's Power-Sucking AI Data Centers." (The "Cartoon Villain" moniker — which I love — comes from Drop Site News reporter Ryan Grim).
Andrew Perez, writing for Zeteo, said that Sinema, who is "raking in money while lobbying for the AI industry" and who stated in her public remarks that she is working "hand in glove with the Trump administration," has "bullied" the city of Chandler's planning commissioners to approve her client's AI data center. Perez explains that in her comments at the meeting:
Sinema argued that the planning commission in Chandler, Arizona, might as well go ahead and greenlight her client's proposed data center – because soon, once Donald Trump enacts a national AI policy, the city will have no say in such matters.
In her statements at the October 15 Chandler Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, captured in a video posted on X by Phoenix reporter Brahm Resnik, Sinema said:
"I'm here tonight on behalf of Active Infrastructure. I also am the founder and co-chair of a national coalition called the AI Infrastructure Coalition. We are a national coalition formed earlier this year, and work hand in glove with the Trump administration as we prepare for AI American dominance to prepare against a competing threat from China. But also to ensure that, domestically, that we are prepared for the AI revolution that's coming . . . The AI action plan set out by the Trump administration says very clearly that we must continue to proliferate AI and AI data centers throughout the country. So federal preemption is coming. Chandler right now has the opportunity to determine how and when these new, innovative AI data centers will be built. When federal preemption comes, we'll no longer have that privilege. They will just occur, and they will occur in the manner in which they want to occur."
Brad Reed, writing for Common Dreams, further explains that Sinema is working with the Trump administration to "force communities to allow the construction of energy-devouring artificial intelligence data centers." Sinema attended the meeting on behalf of New York-based developer Active Infrastructure, which seeks to build a 420,000-square foot data center in Chandler, a community of about 300,000 people located southeast of Phoenix, Arizona. Deseret News provides more details about the proposed data center:
The former senator was making her case for the Price Road Innovation Campus, a potentially $2.5-billion project by a New York-based developer, to build a data center and five office buildings in Chandler, a suburb in the Phoenix valley.
The artificial intelligence data center and tech park project currently don't meet the land use requirements for the area. The site for this proposed project has remained vacant since 2019.
David de la Torre, planning manager for Chandler, said that the idea is reserved for "knowledge-based industries and preserving and expanding campus-like environments."
"Staff finds that data centers provide significantly lower numbers of jobs after construction is complete compared to the high-value employment industries that are targeted for the corridor," de la Torre said.
But Adam Baugh, a zoning and land use attorney representing the developer, said that this project will attract companies from industries like tech, health care and aerospace who want to be situated close to the data center.
Brad Reed, writing for Common Dreams, reports that the construction of such centers throughout the US has sparked outrage among many, "as local residents have complained about the data centers consuming massive amounts of resources — increasing monthly electricity bills and, in some cases, disrupting local water supplies." I share this outrage, as communities across the country have been subjected to massive amounts of pollution from these centers, and they use gargantuan amounts of water. And Arizona is a desert to begin with! Reed provides more details about the massive problems caused by such centers:
Mike Jacobs, a senior energy manager at the Union of Concerned Scientists, last month released an analysis estimating that data centers had added billions of dollars to Americans' electric bills across seven different states in recent years. In Virginia alone, for instance, Jacobs found that household electric bills had subsidized data center transmission costs to the tune of $1.9 billion in 2024.
In his piece, Reed quotes journalist Nathan Newman, who perfectly sums up Sinema's current role. He states:
Knew Sinema would show up in some super-scummy corporate role, but being handmaiden to the AI techlords in strong-arming local communities to accept AI data centers – or face the wrath of the Trump administration – is about as low as it goes.
As someone who voted for Sinema back when I believed her progressive rhetoric, and then thoroughly regretted ever supporting her, I couldn't agree more.
The Phoenix Business Journal reports that, despite the Chandler City Planners' recommendation to deny the project, the Chandler Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-1 to recommend that the Chandler City Council approve PLH-2466, the Price Road Innovation Campus, a rezoning and preliminary plan for an AI data center. According to Newsbreak, the Chandler City Council is scheduled to vote on the plan on November 13.
If you want to check out the data center development company Sinema is shilling for, Active Infrastructure, here you go.
Previously:
• Kyrsten Sinema: Senator, and … Facebook Marketplace re-seller?
• Senator Kyrsten Sinema leaves the Democratic party
• Sinema drops out of Senate race, admitting she is 'not what America wants right now'
• AI's energy draw adds to global climate issues
• Microsoft cancels $1bn data center planned in Ohio, suggests they use land for farms
• Google's AI search summaries use 10x more energy than just doing a normal Google search
