Communities need to be involved in the process when #datacenters are built. Folks have a right to know the costs & benefits, and to get the best deal they can for their community. #rural #localcontrol

You can watch part two here: www.kptv.com/2025/12/23/m...

THIS- Addressing the energy needs, employment promises and overall environmental impact of data centers will allow South Dakotans to decide whether we really want this infrastructure to be developed in our state. We live here and our voices matter www.thedakotascout.com/p/counterpoi... #datacenters

SD state economist confirms what is widely felt across the state - the #farm economy has slowed. Low prices, high inputs are reducing what #farmers spend & it's felt in our sales #tax revenues southdakotasearchlight.com/briefs/south... #southdakota

"I’ve seen firsthand how NEPA has spared many ranchers, farmers, and others in Montana from decisions that could have resulted in their ruin." writes Northern Plains mbr & former #NEPA compliance officer Beth Kaeding on the importance of opposing the SPEED Act. www.wvnews.com/news/around_...

America's farmers have faced a year unlike any other, with a roller coaster of changing tariff and trade policies along with drastic cuts to federal funding and programs. 1/3

Sobering news for farm country: According to data gathered by the health policy outlet KFF, 27% of farmers, ranchers & agricultural managers rely on individual marketplace insurances, the large majority of which are purchased through ACA Marketplaces. www.kcrg.com/2025/12/15/i... #rural #healthcare

Give a listen to the latest Coast Range Radio Podcast - Is Amazon Fueling A Water Crisis in Oregon? www.buzzsprout.com/1046044?clie...

We often call out transnational meatpackers like JBS and others for market manipulation, but their unchecked corporate power leads to the exploitation and suffering of so many across the food and agriculture sectors and in rural communities.

SPEED Act will gut #NEPA, depriving federal decision makers of the info they need to make decisions that don't result in the kind of disasters NEPA is supposed to prevent. Also making it much harder to hold the govn't accountable when its poor decisions end up harming us and our communities. #mtpol

This is alarming: "Larew said he’s heard concern about the deeper economic impact of unstable international trade. Lenders told him they’ll be unable to make loans for up to 50% of their farm customers in the next year." This is the current #farmcrisis & will hit #rural communities hard

Farmers and ranchers aren't being hyperbolic when they use the words "farm crisis." It's looking pretty 1985 out there right now, with more pain on the horizon. These hotlines are critical for farmers in crisis. So is organizing for policies that work for producers instead of against them.

Why we signed on: “The rapid, largely unregulated rise of #datacenters to fuel the #AI and crypto frenzy is disrupting communities across the country and threatening Americans’ economic, environmental, climate and water security." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025... #rural #ruralcommunities

It seems like just letting the Biden administration's stronger antitrust updates to the Packers and Stockyards Act go into effect would have been easier and more effective than throwing researched and publicly supported rules away and jotting down a new executive order.

What couold go wrong?

The number "13%" doesn't really tell the story of families choosing between heat and food as temperatures fall. Prices in rural places have often seen the biggest increases. Families across the West will be making some painful choices this winter.

This: “To say that #datacenters are unpopular right now is probably an understatement, to say the least,” admitted Dan Diorio, VP for state policy, Data Center Coalition, speaking to the Florida House Economic Infrastructure Committee Tuesday. Start with #transparency in your communities

Yes investigate but also do something. This is not encouraging: "Trump’s Securities and Exchange Commission also cleared JBS, the largest foreign-owned meat company in the U.S. and the biggest donor to Trump’s inauguration, for listing on the New York Stock Exchange." #breakupthepackers #monopolies

This move isn't going to bring coal back when current bids on federal coal leases are so low that the BLM is forced to reject them. Coal policy is out of touch with the markets.

"The future for the thermal coal industry is very bleak and the companies seem to realize that." Thinking that just holding lease sales will resurect an industry shows how out-of-touch this administration is with the way actual energy markets work.

"No one has wanted a coal lease. Basically, Trump got in and decided it would have been an exciting thing to have a coal lease & it would have helped the coal industry & the result was what you see—the real players in the coal industry said, 'No thanks, we're good.'" www.spglobal.com/market-intel...

"Hay tantos actores maliciosos a la vez”, dice Lay. “Cada uno de estos contaminadores tiene responsabilidad directa por la contaminación que generan y deben rendir cuentas." www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

Excellent commentary from Travis Entenman, Friends of the Big Sioux, on EPA rule rollback: "less water gets filtered and more pollution goes straight into our streams and lakes, risking algal blooms and drinking water problems." #EPA #waterpollution #wetlands

“We have been slapped down by Congress to gratify the coal industry at the expense of everyday people.” Wyoming's delegation led the charge to remove the voice of the people on coal leasing in Wyoming's Powder River Basin.

This is a case study in how powerful interests and self-dealing public officials can use secrecy and corporate power to create public health nightmares. #protectwater #cleanwater

The earlier we combat runoff into our waters, the less expensive it is to clean up. Once it gets downstream, the clean-up efforts required of communities to provide clean water are much more expensive. #waterpollution #CAFOs

Taking on corporate power, secrecy, and self-dealing public officials is how WORC members protect their communities. This story shows how @oregonrural.bsky.social's grassroots organizing is the spotlight in the darkness of Oregon’s water crisis.

MYTH: Data centers don’t strain the power grid. FACT: These facilities consume power at an industrial scale, creating new demand pressures that strains grids. The IEA projects their global electricity demand could exceed 1,000 TWh by 2026 - enough to power South Dakota for 85 years! #datacenters

“How can you live with yourself knowing that the water you put in people’s houses is causing miscarriages or cancer? And they’re still making money on deals for new data centers.” @oregonrural.bsky.social members are protecting water from powerful polluters. www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

When ordinary people organize, engage, and take action, they can change the course of their communities and strengthen the foundation of our democracy. This was certainly true in the Mountain West, where the power of people-driven politics was on full display.

And no help from the state. #SNAP #hunger #SouthDakota

DRA has long advocated that #SouthDakota should take care of her people. We should prioritize feeding people, period. We, the State, has money in reserves to fill this gap. southdakotasearchlight.com/2025/11/03/s... #SNAP #hunger

We have plenty of evidence that carbon capture doesn't work. Our government is wasting all this money on a scam.

NEW REPORT outlines threats that idled oil and gas wells pose to rural communities, wildlife, and recreation. #KeepBondingReform to ensure the oil and gas industry–not taxpayers–pays for the cleanup. www.nwf.org/-/media/Documents/PDFs/Press-Releases/2025/A-Growing-Risk-on-Public-Lands

On increasing imports of Argentine beef: This is not in the best interest for South Dakota farmers and ranchers. We raise safe, high-quality beef that should not be undercut by a faulty trade scheme. - Roger Svec, DRA member & cattle producer www.dakotarural.org/dra-statemen... #usabeef #cattle

Out today, Rural Policy Action Report, which WORC and many of its member groups contributed to, provides practical steps Congress could take immediately to improve rural people’s lives and deliver lower costs, higher wages, and the freedom to make choices about our own lives. ruralpolicyaction.us

SD's ag economy is being toppled by the #tradewar & the feds keep bailing out Argentina ($40 billion!). Let's not wipe out cattle markets too or #SouthDakota will be in a world of hurt quickly southdakotasearchlight.com/briefs/senat... #usabeef

A Latino community served by Idaho Organization of Resource Councils suffered a brutal police raid this week. Police zip-tied children & fired rubber bullets into a crowd. Please consider donating to help the traumatized families whose head of households were detained. givebutter.com/ifaf?fbclid=...

A 19% hike on #electricity bills would be felt by everyone & would be a flat-out hardship for many who are already struggling to buy groceries or pay rent #ratepayers #utilityrates #energysky

"Sens. Daines and Sheehy did the industry’s bidding and laid waste to years of consultation the BLM conducted with local tribal leaders, ranchers, farmers, outfitters, and other Montanans to ensure that coal mining can co-exist in the Powder River Basin without destroying our livelihoods."

Oh, the irony. Same day that Senate cancels two land-use plans to allow coal leasing to continue in eastern Montana and North Dakota, this happens. And it happened because coal is now worth essentially nothing-- 1/10 of a penny per ton, as one company priced it at on Monday. #mtpol #northdakota

“What the hell happened to Daines and Sheehy’s conservatism, to their belief in local control and less government? Their votes today couldn’t be more top-down, more political, or more disconnected from the needs and interests of Montanans who will be most affected by their actions."

"[Canceling the Miles City RMP] gives companies the green light to mine the public coal that sits underneath private property.... Property owners could literally have the earth taken out from underneath us." #mtpol billingsgazette.com/opinion/colu...

Summit knows that SD doesn't want this #CO2 #pipeline & won't let them use eminent domain to force it through. Hopefully the Iowa Utilities Commission holds the line on Summit's permit there & doesn't give them any more wiggle room. #CCS #NotforsaleSD

“Those of us who live with this don’t have any say in what happens to the land we own and have leased for generations. [The current Miles City Resource Management Plan] was a collaborative process, and to have that overturned in one fell swoop is stunning.” www.hcn.org/articles/dec...

Any day now, the Senate could join the House in tossing out years of local collaboration, negotiation, and public involvement that went into the development of public land management plans in southeast Montana, North Dakota, and Alaska. The effect could "destabilize land management" across the West.

“If the only way to keep this industry alive is for the federal government to basically give away coal for free, how does that make any sense?”

Things are not OK in farm country: Karl Adam, SD Bankers Association president said many farmers are looking at losses of $125 - $200 per acre for their corn, due to prices falling from above $7/bushel to less than $4/bushel currently southdakotasearchlight.com/2025/08/28/g... #rural #farming #sodak

The One Big Betrayal of a Bill demands we hold our elected officials accountable. For that to happen, our neighbors need to know the harm it's going to bring to rural communities in the West and Midwest. We break it down for you. worc.org/one-big-betr... #grassrootsorganizing #communityorganizing

The Solar for All program could have made an enormous impact in Tribal communities with energy generation, cost savings & job creation #solarenergy #southdakota www.dakotanewsnetwork.com/2025/08/27/h...