Data Centers Power MAGA but Solar Power Fights Fascism! – Clean Air Leads Rally Outside Governor Hochul’s Birthday Fundraiser
Clean Air members and members of peer environmental and climate organizations from local, state, and national groups came together yesterday, August 25, 2025, to rally outside of Governor Hochul’s birthday fundraiser, held at the Powerhouse venue at 140 Lee Street.
Groups included – PUSH Buffalo, SURJ Buffalo, the WNY Peace Center, West Valley Action Network, Seneca Lake Guardian, Food and Water Watch, Public Power NY, Alliance for Nuclear Free NY, and Nuclear Information and Resource Service.
Our message to the Governor is that we support her actions to protect democracy and resist the MAGA agenda by using NY’s congressional districting process and through coordinated actions with peers in other states and through court challenges, but that she should also similarly be using NY’s energy and macroeconomic policies to this end – specifically, by fully supporting a 15 GW renewable energy build goal for NYPA, and by telling NYISO and the PSC to stop approving energy allocations for data center projects that are not being built with specific public benefit in mind (such as research by public institutions) and that presently largely lack any sort of regulations for environmental justice impacts. The crisis we collectively are fighting requires using all the tools available to us, and NY’s energy and economic policies could be what turns the tide.
In short, “Data Centers Power MAGA but Solar Power Fights Fascism!”
We also urged Governor Hochul to consider the havoc and damage that her former rival Lee Zeldin is causing at the EPA, and to strengthen the NYS DEC in response, giving them greater resources, authority, and onus to take action to hold polluters in NY accountable.
We also worked to raise awareness among rally attendees that Jon Williams, the owner and developer of the Powerhouse venue as well as industrial brownfield sites throughout the region, including the former Tonawanda Coke and American Axle sites, generally prefers to lease his properties to data center operators, specifically cryptocurrency miners, and that he donates significant amounts to MAGA-supportive candidates. During 2020 election cycle, Williams donated over $36,000 to Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, making him Erie County’s largest Trump donor, and as recently as 2023, he donated $2500 to Florida’s Ron DeSantis. We urged attendees to ask Williams about these donations, and to tell him they support solar power development at the former Tonawanda Coke over his proposal for data center operations.
We further rallied to raise awareness of three important public comment periods related to NY’s energy policy that are presently open –
Links to quick one-click digital actions for all three can be found at https://linktr.ee/cleanairwny.
Rally participants handed flyers to attendees of the fundraiser, danced and played music, and signed a giant birthday card for the Governor with these messages.
Clean Air’s organizer Bridge Rauch, who had a ticket to attend the fundraiser, then attempted to enter the fundraiser with the signed birthday card. While they were met at the door by state police and were not allowed into the main fundraiser space, they were allowed into the atrium, where they had a productive conversation with Governor Hochul’s staff members.
We look forward to productive continuation of our conversation with the Governor’s team in meetings in the near future.
You can find photos, our flyer, as well as our press release below. If you are interested in joining future similar actions, please contact our staff organizers and inquire about our Rapid Response team or our campaign teams!
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