Netherlands: Dispute between rural population and Microsoft escalates

There is currently a rather tense relationship between Microsoft and the rural population in the Netherlands. There has also been a physical altercation at a construction site for a large data center.

In the matter, Parish Councilor Lars Ruiter was choked by a security guard as he got out of his car at the site to check on progress on the site. Both already knew each other, like the US magazine Wired reported. There was an argument once before when Ruiter showed up with a camera crew at the scene.

Microsoft itself expressed regret about the incident and pointed out that the security guard came from a subcontractor. However, one protested that one wanted to participate in the clarification of the matter. However, this will do little to change the fundamental contradiction in the background that led to this situation. Because Microsoft is at the forefront of a development that is not particularly well received by the rural population.

Data centers vs. farmland

Because in the Netherlands there has been a heated argument about nitrogen emissions for some time. These are so far above the limit values ​​that there have already been calls to say that the complete abolition of animal husbandry as one of the main sources of nitrogen compounds is considered a good idea. There have been violent protests from the peasantry in particular for a long time because they believe they have to shoulder the consequences of the problem on their own.

On the other hand, more and more data center operators are pouring into the country. The now around 200 turbines are often built on valuable farmland that Dutch farmers laboriously reclaimed from the sea a long time ago. The tech companies are being attracted by two main factors: Many undersea cables that run through the Atlantic have their end point in the Netherlands and there is also an abundance of cheap electricity from renewable sources.

“It’s a waste of fertile ground to erect the buildings for the data centers here,” said a spokesman for the BoerBurgerBeweging (Peasant Citizens’ Movement), which was founded just a few years ago and became the strongest force in the last elections. And while Microsoft and Google are present with large data centers, Meta was unable to implement its plans.

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