Michael Sauers

June 11, 2025

Little did I know that, yesterday, as I wrote a post on data centers, Governor Shapiro was holding a press conference/campaign event announcing a deal between Amazon and Pennsylvania. The announcement was kept under wraps (secret) until the last minute in an obvious attempt to partially control who attended. In attendance were the usual suspects, “dignitaries”, made up of elected officials and a contingent of trade union workers. There was one protester.

Amazon will spend approximately 20 billion dollars on two data centers, one in Salem Township and another in Bucks County. In case you’re wondering, this is the same Amazon that has been accused of paying little or no corporate income taxes over the past decade. Amazon’s total revenue for 2024 was $638 billion.

Now comes the “corporate welfare”. Amazon is enormously profitable. They should not be getting any TAXPAYER money but they will gladly put their hands into taxpayers’ pockets with the help of the Shapiro Administration. The details of all taxpayer-paid “corporate welfare” haven’t been released to the public but they will amount to tens of millions of dollars in local, state and federal give-aways. Are they secret also? Again, Amazon pulled in $638 billion in 2024! This is repugnant.

Additionally, Governor Shapiro used this occasion to promote natural gas via “fracking’. Since becoming Governor he has been very friendly to the oil and gas industry. He has continued all the sweetheart arrangements with “fracking” and has entered into a deal with CNX Resources Corporation that throws shade on Pennsylvania Department of Health and University of Pittsburg studies that connect “fracking” with childhood diseases. CNX Resources Corporation has thousands of environmental violations since 2004. They have pleaded “no contest” to air emission violations, paid substantial fines for wastewater spills, etc.

Obviously, the Governor is not reading the Compendium of Scientific, Medical and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking and Associated Gas and Oil Infrastructure which is now in its 9th edition. First published in 2014, it has been around since he was Attorney General and became Governor. It is a fully referenced, public and open-access compilation of peer reviewed studies, investigations and articles. This is not a secret.

Since the beginning of Governor Shapiro’s Administration, a coalition of grassroots environmental/community development groups have tried (unsuccessfully) to meet and establish dialogue with the Governor. Most people do not know this but it is not a secret. Some in the coalition are researching information they recently received from a RTK regarding an invitation only data center meeting. Does this sound secret?Stay tuned.

Please read, Data Centers-Fodder For the Weak Minded, published 6-10-2025 for more information regarding data centers.