I think local governments should be regulating and zoning new data center construction in a way that forces them to rehabilitate old industrial brownfields. There’s plenty of land already spoiled by human activity that can be reused. No reason to be cleaning nature for a warehouse full of computers that could be built anywhere.
I like this thinking. But also: it's clear this is a monoculture wood crop, not a "forest".
So in fact, this IS brownfield development: changing one industrial land use (forest products) into another one.
Doesn't mean they can't do the paperwork correctly tho.
There hardly is anyone forest left, that wasn't planted by humans in Europe, and most are going to be used to make "forest products". By your measure there is not really any "forest" existing anymore, but this is just not true. Forest brings the qualities of a forest, even when you use it to cut and sell wood, you just need to do it in a sustainable manner, which is essentially a solved problem in Europe both in theory and practice. This is what the society concerned itself and solved already in the 17-hundreds.
Why should that responsibility fall on data centers, specifically?
Because they want to move in and can afford it. Same reason that apartment complexes have to add greenspace or subsidized apartments as a condition of getting a zoning variance.
Maybe not a great example. Municipalities should fund public works projects themselves using sane taxation revenue instead of cryptically taxing private land improvement projects.
Because in a democratic society the people can decide who is responsible for what, that's the price of admission you pay to live in such a society.
That's just what the poster above decided, not "the people" / legislation. Key words "I think" in the comment. Asking that person why they are going after datacenters specifically is a valid question.
There is a "good" answer; data centers are both unpopular and temporarily rolling in cash, making them attractive targets for punitive taxation.
I'm one of those people and I don't understand why we would single out data centers, a largely clean industry, to clean up dirty, industrial areas.
Then get more people to vote with you, it seems like most residents do not agree.
Better do some door knocking to change their minds.