Senator Jarrett Coleman's Telephone Town Hall About Data Centers in PA

I've been actively protesting the data centers in Lehigh County, PA. I attended the South Whitehall Township board meetings, Lehigh Valley Planning Commission meetings and other events. I have called, emailed and spoke in person with politicians and candidates about dirty data centers. And I have a timeline of how we suddenly had an invasion of dirty data centers.

I keep track of each federal, PA state and local laws, bills, moratoria and ordinances. I go to the township website to review the developer proposal, impact studies, modifications and other information. I have green, sustainable or clean alternatives to fossil fuels but some politicians are benefiting from data centers and those oppose our modifications to the proposals to mitigate the negative impact on the environment, wildlife and people.

My PA Rep. Mike Schlossberg (HD-132) has been endorsed by Conservation Voters of PA and has supported the data center bills that benefit constituents. Meanwhile, I have emailed Senator Coleman and I get generic replies. On the telephone town hall prior to the data center town hall, Jamie Himmelreich took my question. Senator Coleman saw it and mentioned Parkland School District but not my question and he did not let me talk. I continued to ask my question by email without a reply stating if he supports or opposes the bills.

As soon as I read Senator Coleman's newsletter about the data center telephone town hall, I shared it with a group of people who oppose the data center so we could sign up to get on the call. On April 15, 2026 shortly after 6 pm I received a call and listened to their wait music for five minutes and as soon as I heard Coleman speak, I pressed star three to ask a question. Jamie answered and I asked the same question as before. Will Senator Coleman support The Data Center Act, House Bill (HB) 1834 that has already passed in the PA state House of Representatives? She asked me if it passed and I said that it did.

I listened to Senator Coleman say some generic AI information about data centers. He took a call from Bucks County and those people are not receiving the same news that we get in Lehigh County. Then he took a call from Lehigh County and disconnected them! He hung up on some of my friends. Mia started her comment about heat from data centers. She told me that he hung up on her! He refused to answer my question yet again.

Coleman introduced two bills on April 16, 2026 hours after the telephone town hall. The first memo sent to the senate is Repealing the Data Center Tax Break and Reducing the Gas Tax. The second memo sent to the senate is Empowering Municipalities to Place a Moratorium on Data Center Development. The second memo does absolutely nothing since municipalities already have the power to delay development in their ordinances. The first memo repeals the sales tax exemptions for data centers and redirecting the revenue for DIESEL purchased. I do not purchase diesel but dirty data centers do and prices increased due to the war. Just another Republican helping the fossil fuel industry.

Look at House Bill 2150, House Bill 2151, House Bill 1834 and others. The votes are mostly by party lines. Democrats support and Republicans oppose. Senator Jarrett Coleman's environmental scorecard from Conservation Voters of PA is 10%. Congressman Ryan Mackenzie (PA -07) scored 9% and Senator Dave McCormick's environmental scorecard from Conservation Voters of PA is 0%.

Senator Jarrett Coleman held a telephone town hall about data centers only after learning that most people oppose them, even those who voted for him. He pretends to suddenly care but he has not supported the data center bills that were introduced. He knows most people don't know about the bills because they are not making the news. As a member of conservation groups, I watch these bills at ask my legislators to support them. Senator Coleman doesn't care; he'll say what people want to hear to get re-elected.

A politician who won't answer calls or emails or have in-person town halls isn't working for us. Politicians putting profits over people should be replaced. Watch how they vote to decide your votes.