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A new column at The Midwesterner, a conservative Michigan news outlet, argues that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer bears sole responsibility for the wave of public hostility toward data centers in Michigan. The piece’s core claim, from its opening: “Gretchen Whitmer has no one else to blame but herself for how residents disdain data centers.”
*Whitmer joins tech executives with shovels at the Saline Township data center groundbreaking — the event that touched off the backlash the column describes. (NPR/Michigan Radio photo)
- Political framing. The author contends the data-center push is being sold through geopolitical framing — “The war for ‘data’ is being waged against China” — a national-security rationale the column treats as covering for unpopular subsidies.
- Public opinion. The column cites a new poll showing Michiganders overwhelmingly disapprove of data centers, and specifically reject “current federal tax breaks and other federal policies” that favor them.
- Self-inflicted damage. Kyle Olson’s thesis is that Whitmer embraced the industry early and unconditionally — tax exemptions, expedited approvals, public appearances alongside tech executives — and is now reaping the backlash she created, with no one else to blame.
Context from corroborating coverage
- On June 1, 2026, Whitmer appeared at the groundbreaking of the massive Oracle/OpenAI-linked data center in Saline Township alongside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Oracle CEO Clay Magouyrk, drawing bipartisan criticism — including Rep. Rashida Tlaib calling her support “disgusting.”
- A hot-mic moment at the event intensified the backlash: Whitmer was caught telling an Oracle executive, “We’re used to people saying ‘f— no,’ and then doing it anyway.”
- In late 2024, Whitmer and legislative leaders created a sales-and-use tax exemption for data centers investing at least $250 million and creating 30 jobs at 150% of the local median wage; one report put forgone revenue so far at roughly $13 million.
- Whitmer rejected lawmakers’ proposals for a moratorium on data-center approvals in June 2026, and in July offered a voluntary corporate “pledge” instead — which conservation groups blasted as inadequate.
- The issue has become a top-line theme of the 2026 Michigan election cycle, with scrutiny extending to Democratic gubernatorial frontrunner Jocelyn Benson because her husband works for the Saline project’s developer.
The tax exemptions, the Saline Township controversy, the polling, and the bipartisan backlash — is consistent with mainstream Michigan coverage, but a conservative critique of Whitmer’s economic-development strategy puts the blame on her.
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