Declaration of the Citizens of Virginia

Declaration author: Dave Peterson, Fluvanna, VA

The text below is reproduced verbatim from the official declaration (PDF). Only scanning errors were corrected.

Declaration of the Citizens of Virginia in opposition to unconstrained data center development and the resultant unprecedented construction of power generation and supply infrastructure throughout Virginia required to support these massive structures.

When, in the course of a free people, the actions of government become increasingly devoted to the advancement of concentrated private wealth at the expense of the health, safety, property, and the liberties of the people from whom government derives its just powers, it becomes necessary for those citizens to declare the principles by which they are united and the grievances that compel them to seek redress.

We hold these truths to be self-evident: that governments are instituted to secure the blessings of liberty; that the Constitution of the United States was ordained to “form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”; and the the Constituion of Virginia likewise recognizes that all political power is vested in, and derived from, the people.

We therefore declare a principle of interdependence: that communities, families, farms, forests, rivers, wildlife, businesses, and the future generations are bound together in a common trust. None may be sacrificed solely for the enrichment of a few without injury to all.

Our Grievances

We recognize that electricity is indispensible to modern civilization and that prudent investment in infrastructure serving a genuine public need is appropriate. Yet when immense industrial projects are undertaken, with little transparency, primarily to benefit a comparatively small number of extraordinarily wealthy private corporations while imposing substantial burdens upon surrounding communities, constitutional government requires careful scrutiny and meaningful public consent.

We believe that public policy has increasingly favored the concentration of economic and political power in ways inconsistent with constitutional principles and the common welfare.

We object to the condemnation of private lands through eminent domain where the pricipal beneficiaries are private commercial enterprises rather than the public.

We object to the construction of high-voltage transmission corridors through our rural, residential, and farming communities when, amongst other issues, a sizable number of scientific researchers have warned of associated health risks and where less harmful alternatives have not been fully evaluated. We therefore call for the application of precautionary principles when long-term exposure to high-voltage transmission facilities are proposed near residences, schools, farms, and places where people regularly gather.

We object to the permanent loss of productive farmland to data centers, transmission lines, substations, and power generation plants.

We object to unconstrained industrial-scale data center development that permanently transforms agricultural, rural and residential landscapes into heavy industrial districts without adequate consideration of cumulative environmental inpacts.

We object to the degradation of air quality resulting from gas fueled power plants and diesel backup generation, construction emissions, and associated industrial activity.

We object to increasing demands upon finite water resources, including groundwater.

We object to the thermal and ecological impacts associated with large-scale cooling operations.

We object to continual noise affecting the health, lives, and wellbeing of people, domesticated animals, and wildlife from data centers and associated infrastructure near homes, schools, farms, natural areas, and places of worship.

We object to the visual blight resulting from massive transmission towers, substations, and industrial facilities that permanently alter Virginia’s scenic landscapes.

We object to the fragmentation of forests, destruction of wildlife habitat, and reduction of productive farmland.

We object to increased flood risk arising from extensive impervious surfaces.

We object to placing the financial risks of speculative infrastructure expansion upon captive utility customers through increased utility rates while the economic gains accrue disproportionately to a limited number of multinational corporations.

We object as ratepayers, being forced to subsidize the unprecedented energy infrastructure build out for the Data Center industry while they reap the private profits.

We object to governmental processes in which local citizens perceive that meaningful participation is diminished while decisions of extraordinary consequence are effectively predetermined.

We object to the cumulative psychological burdens experienced by citizens who face uncertainty concerning their homes, property, communities, health, and the safe and wholesome development of their children and grandchildren.

We object whenever constitutional protections for private property are abandoned through expansive interpretations of publc use that primarily facilitate private commercial development.

We object whenever economic development is measured soley by corporate investment while failing to account for losses in natural capital, community cohesion, agricultural productivity, historic preservation, and quality of life.

Concerning Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence promises remarkable advances in medicine and science, among others. We do not oppose innovation. But innovation must remain the servant of humanity rather than its master.

Even leaders of the world’s largest artificial intelligence enterprises have publicly warned that advanced AI presents profound societal risks requiring careful governance. Executives of major AI companies – including those leading the largest hyperscale AI systems – have warned of risks relating to economic disruption, cybersecurity, misuse of powerful systems, concentration of power, and, in some instances, potential catastrophic outcomes if development proceeds without adequate safeguards.

When those building these systems themselves urge caution, governments should not dismiss those warnings in their rush to subsidize or accelerate unprecedented infrastructure expansion.

Virginia should not become merely the industrial engine of a global technological race without first ensuring that such development demonstrably serves the people of Virginia.

Constutional Principles

The Constitution of the United States charges our government to promote the general welfare of the people.

The Constitution of Virginia recognizes that all power belongs to the people and that government is instituted soley for their common benefit, protection, and security.

We therefore affirm that governmental action should be evaluated according to these enduring questions:

Does it protect the rights of the people?

Does it genuinely serve the public rather than overwhelming private interests?

Does it preserve the natural inheritance entrusted to future generations?

Does it fairly distribute both the benefits and burdens?

Does it respect due process, transparency, and meaningful public participation?

If these questions cannot be answered affirmatively, then constitutional government requires reconsideration.

Our Declaration

Therefore, we, the citizens of Virginia, united in our shared responsibility to one another and to future generations, solemnly declare:

That economic progress must never be purchased by sacrificing constitutional liberty.

That private property shall not be taken except where public necessity and constitutional standards are clearly established.

That public utilities shall serve the public before private speculation.

That environmental stewardship is a constitutional duty owed to posterity.

That our communities are not expendable.

That innovation without accountability is incompatible with constitutional government.

That prosperity measured only in corporate valuation, while communities bear disproportionate costs, is neither sustainable nor just.

That government must once again act as the faithful guardian of the people rather than the instrument of concentrated private influence.

And finally, we declare that our future depends on our interdependence – the recognition that liberty, property, health, nature, prosperity, community, and constitutional government rise or fall together.

With firm reliance upon the enduring principles of constitutional self-government and with respect for the rights of all people, we pledge ourselves to peaceful yet unwaivering civic action, public accountablity, honest science, faithful stewardship, and the restoration of government dedicated to the true General Welfare.

***

ex pluribus una vox
“ from many, one voice”

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”
Martin Luther King Jr.

“I shall not submit to injustice from anyone”
Mahatma Gandhi

The sincerity of a true heart is the only requirement of effective advocacy

“ If the world is against the truth, then I will be against the world”
Saint Athanasius

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