Adding Color to the Data Center Conversation and More

When E2Tech first talked about organizing a discussion about data centers, someone said to me, “Make sure you present both sides of the issue.” But then every person I talked to had a unique perspective that somehow was both aligned and in tension with other perspectives in unexpected ways. We have put together a diverse panel with expertise in energy, environmental, and policy issues that goes beyond “bothsidesism” because we don’t live in a binary world that can be reduced to just ones and zeroes, good and bad, left and right, us and them. The world is not black and white and the alternative is not a sea of gray. Allow me to say something obvious, the world is a vast rainbow of colors. And how beautiful it is. There are so many shades of color that we make up names like Zomp, Fulvous, Mindaro, Grullo, and Sinopia. (Yes, I learned these are colors by reading Dungeon Crawler Carl.) Beyond these fun names, there are wavelengths of light we cannot see with our own two eyes, but we know they are there. I have a lot of questions for our panelists about data centers, but for a productive conversation, maybe the most important questions are the ones we ask ourselves. Am I here just to confirm what I already believe? Am I here to really listen and learn, or am I here to listen just enough to poke holes in someone else’s argument, or to understand only enough to try to persuade them of what I already think? I’m not saying that people shouldn’t have agendas. Of course, we would like others to see things our way. E2Tech’s approach in organizing this event is not to tell you how to feel or what to think, but to provide an opportunity to see a wider spectrum, to grasp a broader perspective, to add a little color. - E2Tech’s Orion BreenWe hope you are open to joining the conversation on May 28th in South Portland at 5:30pm. Thanks to gold sponsor Flycatcher LLC and silver sponsors Tetra Tech, Sevee & Maher Engineers, and Pierce Atwood LLP. Find out more at: www.e2tech.org/our-events