Data center moratorium (7.b)

A Rogers County resident invoked councilors' oath to the people and urged them to make the right choice.

Representing 493 people in Rogers County Land Heritage, cited Meta layoffs, water limits, and PFAS pollution in urging passage.

A 9-year-old Midtown resident laid out six objections: energy use, water use, air pollution, noise, land consumption, and limited permanent jobs.

Cited over 3,100 acres of proposed data centers across the metro and urged the council to pass the moratorium and model a Montgomery County, Pennsylvania ordinance.

A District 6 homeowner and self-described national expert on hyperscale data centers warned of job losses, tax revenue losses, and unmet developer promises.

National campaigns director for Honor the Earth argued data centers enable mass surveillance and biased AI policing, citing MIT facial recognition error statistics.

Compared the current AI boom to the dot-com bubble and said a moratorium would let Tulsans proceed carefully.

Raised an alleged conflict of interest involving a board member employed by Aon, which reportedly received a data-center contract, and asked that the member recuse.

Pointed to lawsuits in Stillwater, Sand Springs, Coeta and Claremore, called the rush an ARPA-funding deadline grab, and asked the council to listen to the people.

Described how his hometown in Prince William County, Virginia was transformed by data centers, and warned councilors politically risk their seats if they don't act.

Urged a pause on new projects and even ongoing ones like Anthem Phase 1, citing pollution, property values, and 3.2 billion gallons of annual water demand.

Supported the moratorium but opposed the Anthem exception, alleging Project Anthem's private client sits on the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority.

Cited Georgia's projected $2.5 billion sales tax loss and claimed sites for data centers were already lined up without council approval.

A District 3 homeowner and TU computer science graduate with machine learning research background urged the moratorium and investment in housing and environment instead.

Argued generative AI threatens Tulsa's artists' livelihoods and the town's creative character.

Challenged tech companies' 'water positive' claims and noted environmental regulations are being rolled back, leaving citizens little recourse.

Cited Stanford data showing data centers consuming 7-26% of state power, and said he'd rather not gamble residents' well-being on AI.

Urged passage for the sake of land, water, and people, saying she could only assume pockets were being filled if the council declined.