近距离内射合集

LAS CRUCES 鈥� Over 400 people packed a meeting room and spilled into a hallway on the New Mexico State University campus Tuesday night for a town hall organized by four Democratic lawmakers from Las Cruces.

The session was devoted to the massive artificial intelligence data center known as Project Jupiter, currently under construction in Santa Teresa. The lawmakers hosted the session after promises for a town hall on the subject by Do帽a Ana County leadership went unfulfilled. County Commission Chairman Manny Sanchez attended the meeting but did not speak.

State Sens. Joseph Cervantes, Bill Soules and Jeff Steinborn were flanked onstage by empty chairs. At the podium, Sen. Carrie Hamblen 鈥� serving as moderator 鈥� said the senators had invited the Office of the State Engineer, Interstate Stream Commission and the state Economic Development, Environment and Health departments to send representatives, but none had done so.

鈥淲e understand the frustration and the anger and the disappointment and the fear that this has caused our community,鈥� Hamblen said. 鈥淲e understand that the trust has been destroyed, and that you have felt betrayed by the process that is supposed to be public discourse.鈥�

The campus for Oracle Corp. and OpenAI to house data centers and an office complex began construction in September. 

"Project Jupiter is committed to growing responsibly in New Mexico, creating lasting economic opportunity, investing in the community, respecting the region鈥檚 natural resources, and working constructively with state and local leaders and residents,鈥� a spokesperson for Oracle said Wednesday. 

鈥淲e want Project Jupiter to deliver lasting benefits for New Mexico while respecting the resources and communities that make this state special,鈥� the spokesperson said. 鈥淲e will continue listening, engaging with the community, and looking for ways to develop responsibly as the project moves forward."

The 36 people who spoke at the meeting, most identifying themselves as county residents, were nearly all opposed to the data center, citing concerns about negative effects on groundwater and air quality, suspicions about political leadership from the county to Santa Fe and the AI industry as a whole. Several called on the senators to take action to halt the project and a few called for a probe into local government approvals by the Office of the State Auditor.

Some residents spoke of ancestors who had been sickened by the former ASARCO smelting site in neighboring El Paso, Texas, angry at the prospect of a new project that would emit 10 million tons of carbon dioxide yearly, according to permit application notices for the project.

Several residents argued that infrastructure and services for the Sunland Park and Santa Teresa areas were neglected while capital and political support flowed to industry.

No one spoke in defense of the project, though a few asked the senators to consider what regulations or guardrails could make the data center more acceptable.

Adam Amador, a local educator, challenged the senators to present a positive alternative. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 not Project Jupiter,鈥� he said, 鈥渨hat are you four doing to bring jobs in to the good, poor people of the great state of New Mexico?鈥�

Oracle has projected over $4.7 billion in economic impact as well as $80 million in state and county revenue. The company has pledged to employ more than 7,000 for construction and 1,500 permanent jobs. Oracle said 700 New Mexico residents are currently employed at the work site, but as of Wednesday the county had not posted employment data the developers were required to submit on July 31. 

Cervantes suggested that data center development would come at the expense of agriculture if rights to dwindling water resources were allocated to building data centers and filling their cooling systems.

鈥淲e have people here from Sunland Park that are struggling hard with everything that you need to have: water, roads, everything else like that,鈥� Cervantes said. 鈥淭his is a predatory project, taking advantage of people like us that are least able to fight it. 鈥� In Albuquerque or Santa Fe, nothing like this could happen. They鈥檝e chosen this for purposeful reasons and it鈥檚 all about money.鈥�

The senators alleged that lobbyists for the project had misled lawmakers and that Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham was smoothing the way for the project to proceed.

A spokesperson for the Governor鈥檚 Office said Wednesday that Lujan Grisham 鈥渄oes not interfere in state agencies鈥� regulatory decisions鈥� and 鈥渢akes seriously the concerns Do帽a Ana County residents have raised about Project Jupiter 鈥� and expects any data center operating in New Mexico to meet the state鈥檚 rigorous environmental standards and use water responsibly.鈥�

Lujan Grisham met with Oracle representatives in July for what the office described as a 鈥済eneral update,鈥� but said she 鈥渕ade no effort to influence the outcome of Project Jupiter鈥檚 air permit application.鈥� 

While no state agencies participated in Tuesday鈥檚 listening session, the Governor鈥檚 Office said the Environment Department鈥檚 public hearing over Yucca Growth Infrastructure鈥檚 requested air quality permit for Project Jupiter 鈥渨ill include robust public engagement, both in person and virtually, in Sunland Park.鈥� The hearing opens Sept. 14. 

Steinborn vowed to amend New Mexico鈥檚 regulations on microgrid power facilities to require renewable energy sources; prevent utilities from purchasing power from microgrids and passing on the cost to ratepayers; and give the Public Regulation Commission oversight authority.

He also promised to investigate how the Office of the State Engineer managed water rights obtained for use in building the data center and to support renewed efforts to pass lobbying reforms that the governor has vetoed previously.

鈥淲e need to make sure that there are appropriate bonds in place, that if (Project Jupiter) goes belly up 鈥� there is some money that has been put aside to remediate any of the problems,鈥� Soules said. 鈥淭oo often, people walk away, declare bankruptcy, and then it鈥檚 all on the public.鈥�

Hamblen said she would carry a data center moratorium bill in the Senate, mirroring a proposal by state House members, during the 2027 legislative session, when a new governor 鈥� presumably either Democrat Deb Haaland or Republican Gregg Hull 鈥� will be in office.

Algernon 顿鈥橝尘尘补蝉蝉补 is the Journal鈥檚 southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.