Brad Paisley called for elected local officials to step in and stop the data center from being built next to the Nashville Zoo, and this morning, that’s exactly what happened.
The Nashville Zoo took to social media earlier in June to ask the community and the world at large for help. According to them, developers are trying to build a 69,000 square foot data center in an area directly adjacent to their property. Though the people planning to build it say it will have no environmental impact, there aren’t enough studies out there just yet to confirm those claims.
On the flip side, there’s already a lot of concern about the possible risks of data centers, and how they could impact vulnerable communities (mainly through power grid issues, depleting natural resources, and causing harm to the watershed). If those concerns are true, that could obviously cause a ton of issues with the delicate collection of animals that call the Nashville Zoo home.
That’s why the non-profit organization posted on their social media accounts during the first week of June asking for those willing to sign a petition to stop the building of the data center:
“We’re asking our community to stand with us in protecting the animals, habitats, people and future of Nashville Zoo.”
As of today, the petition has over 533,000 signatures.
Much of that is thanks to Brad Paisley, who has been very outspoken about the data center being built on the property adjacent to the Nashville Zoo. The Nashville-based artist put out a video condemning the project when the news first broke, saying the data center “didn’t belong there” and that it would “detract in every way” from what makes Nashville special.
And just a few days ago, the country music star returned to social media to share even more thoughts on the matter. He related the AI data center moving into an area where it wasn’t wanted to what’s currently happening in the music industry:
“It’s been a minute since the AI data center has been in the news here in Nashville, but it hasn’t gone away. I have some thoughts, and I felt like I need to talk about this a little bit more. It’s by no means resolved yet. AI is taking our intellectual property without asking us.
Songwriters and musicians, it’s using things we’ve done for decades to create new music, some of it royalty free, and also to play demos of songs, melodies, styles, etc.
It’s taking the jobs of musicians and kind of putting people out of work. I’m sorry, but it’s a fact. Now they are trying to build a data center, a monstrosity next to the zoo, kind of in the same way – where they are not asking for permission, and it’s going to really affect something here in Nashville.”
He makes a good argument, does he not?
Towards the end of the video, Paisley gave a call to action and called on elected leaders to find a solution. He says it’s very important that Nashville stand up to this data center… if only so other communities out there are inspired to do the same:
“Nashville, we’ve got to fight this. We have to set a precedent. Because if we can win this and we can stop that from happening where we don’t want it, it’s a precedent that will help other communities. Right now, let’s not let up.”
The good news? Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced this morning that he’d be enacting eminent domain in order to stop the data center from being built near the Nashville Zoo. He provided this statement to WKRN News 2:
“We’re filing this condemnation legislation because Metro has a legitimate need for this property. I have carefully followed the concerns from the community and the Zoo and also remain deeply concerned about the proposed use.”
Considering the timing of Paisley’s post, and the mayor’s use of eminent domain… I’d say the country music star’s plea for elected officials to step in worked.
