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Reuters sent a camera crew into Nevada and found something that should be obvious: Americans love the benefits of artificial intelligence, but many want to block the very data centers that make it work. The viral moment came when a Reno pipefitter apprentice, Joe Martino, said bluntly that stopping data‑center building would mean “going back into the dinosaur ages” — paper and pencils, anyone?
Trades are busy in Reno. The politics are messy.
At the Tahoe‑Reno Industrial Center, construction crews are getting steady, well‑paid work building massive AI data centers. That means pipefitters, electricians, concrete crews and truck drivers keep paychecks coming. Martino’s line about “dinosaur ages” is funny because it’s true: halt data‑center builds and a lot of skilled trades lose multi‑year projects and stable incomes.
One union, two views
But the story isn’t just about hard hats. In Las Vegas, hospitality and service workers fear automation and job losses. That split has put unions in an awkward spot: Reno benefits from new industrial investment, while Strip workers worry their roles could be automated away. Teamsters leaders and longtime members have said the same basic thing — the boom helps some and threatens others — and politics follows the pain.
Polls show a strange contradiction
National polls show most people oppose new data centers in their neighborhoods. Yet the same voters use AI tools every day and say AI matters to how they vote. Exit polling from the recent midterm cycle found many voters called data centers a major factor in their decisions. So Americans want AI’s convenience, but they don’t always want the plants that power it in their backyard. That’s NIMBYism dressed up as principle.
Build smarter, not slower
Conservatives should not reflexively defend every corporate move, but we should defend common sense. We can protect water and manage local impacts while still approving projects that create real jobs and keep U.S. tech leadership. State and local leaders must stop blocking investment with blanket moratoria and instead fast‑track clear rules for siting, water use, and grid upgrades. If we stall, the country doesn’t go back to the stone age — it loses ground to competitors who won’t hesitate to build.
The Reuters field report put a human face on that choice: either embrace the infrastructure that powers modern life and pay people well, or tell millions of users to switch back to pencils. Which sounds smarter? Which sounds more patriotic? The answer should be obvious.
