POTOSI — Sunday was a beautiful day in Southwest Wisconsin.

The mercury broke 60 degrees, and the sun shined across the countryside.

Why would anyone choose to spend such a beautiful day indoors?

A large crowd decided to do just that at Holiday Gardens in Potosi, where “Data Centers in the Driftless — A Community Conversation” discussed finer points that should be considered before data center projects should be approved.

“Data Centers in the Driftless” was organized by several local residents, including Pete Moris and Lisa White. Holiday Gardens was packed with people from across Southwest Wisconsin — beyond Grant County’s borders, as people from Crawford, Iowa and Lafayette counties were also there.

“Isn’t it a beautiful way of life here?” asked White, who is running for the 17th Senate District, then polling them to see how many were farmers. “I don’t know if you would all agree with me, but this is one of the most beautiful places in the world.”

White said she got involved in the issue because she didn’t think enough was known, nor enough discussed on the subject.

“Let’s all work together, come together today, get educated and let’s have good conversations and see if we can put some sense to it,” she said. “I’m not anti-economic development, but I am pro-transparency and I am pro-rural Wisconsin.”

“I was ecstatic about the crowd,” said Moris afterward. He said he had already gotten a strong response from people wanting to attend even before comedian Charlie Berens of “The Manitowoc Minute” confirmed he was coming last week.

Moris felt that the crowd would have been close to the number on Sunday even without Berens, but his efforts helped bring attention to the event, with two Madison-area TV stations joining local media at the event.

Berens headlines

“The reason I am here is I want the Driftless to decide for the Driftless,” journalist-turned-comedian Charlie Berens told the crowd.

Berens wore a Potosi Brewery sweatshirt he was gifted when he showed up and sipped on a beer while speaking — “this is transparency,” he quipped about what he was paid to be there, something he brought up on why he was there.

“How dumb do you think I am?” he deadpanned. “Do you think I’m going to tackle this issue and be on the side of the issue with no money? I’m not stupid. Like, come on now. I’ve never been paid.

“This is just a passion of mine, and the passion is to put the power in the hands of the people who are in the communities … the passion is to put the power back in the hands of Wisconsin to decide the future of Wisconsin.”

Berens, like other entertainers, said he got pushback for participating in a political discussion, something the affable comedian looks to avoid.

“I don’t want to be up here talking about data centers,” he told the crowd. “I will stick to comedy when our politicians stick to policy and stop protecting big tech and start protecting the people that put them into office.”

Berens talked about how data centers are largely unregulated. “We have zero laws on the books, zero actual laws,” he said. “I know that there are pledges being made, but pledges don’t mean anything.”

Berens returned to the theme of transparency, stating that practices like non-disclosure agreements and shell companies to hide the real developers all avoid a real debate on the merits for the community they want to build in.

“Why am I standing up here? Get Mark Zuckerberg standing up here, explaining exactly why this is good for you guys,” said Berens. “Get Microsoft up here explaining exactly why this is good for you guys, taking your questions, looking you in the eye.”

Then he paused. “Pause to look every person in the eye,” he resumed, mixing in humor to get his point across.

“They want us fighting with each other. They want us arguing about cultural issues so we don’t see what’s actually happening. That’s been the game plan.

“This is the most bipartisan issue since beer. The only thing, though, really, the only thing that scares big tech is what’s happening in this room right now. This is the one thing they can’t buy. Democrats, Republicans, farmers, freaking bird watchers, I don’t know, everyone coming together.”

Before he started speaking, Berens dug in more into why this issue drove him to volunteer to come to Potosi Sunday, between stops on his comedy tour.

“Give us real numbers on the water [consumption], and the chemicals going into the water, and the power being used, and real guarantees it will not raise people’s power bills,” he said.

Berens said pledges should be made in writing. “The tech industry has proven we cannot trust their promises, and that is unfortunate. We would love to trust people … If you believe it, put it in the contract.”

Berens added that beyond the impact on electric power and water, beyond back-door discussions, there are more issues with the data center industry he thinks the public should discuss.

“There are so many aspects of this — this is a very complicated technology that not many people understand,” he said, listing what data would this proposed data center handle, how data is handled, and if a data center is an artificial intelligence center what is it able to do.

“There are so many unanswered questions because there is no regulation, and that, unfortunately, is how these tech companies want it,” he said.

When Berens left the podium, he sat in front listening to several speakers before he attempted to exit to make an evening performance he had scheduled in Iowa.

Before he could make it out of Holiday Gardens, he was confronted by state Rep. Travis Tranel (R–Town of Hazel Green), who wanted him to clarify a few points. Their conversation took place for several minutes inside the building, then continued outside of the banquet center.

Later, Berens returned to the dais, and remarked “he said that I sort of screwed the pooch with a couple things,” Berens told the crowd, adding that the phrase was his own. “Who came up with that term anyway, who’s the first guy to have a dog?” he quipped.

Berens qualified that the state Department of Natural Resources would monitor water usage; his bigger concern was the addition of chemicals to cooling liquids.

In many data centers with closed loop water systems, additives are added to water cooling systems to reduce problems like bacteria growth and corrosion.

These additives have been fast-tracked at the federal level, and their handling once taken out of systems or in case of a leak is largely unregulated.

“I was kind of referring to fast tracking chemicals through the EPA, which is happening for these data centers,” said Berens. “If you look that up, that’s accurate.”

Berens said he was concerned about the chemicals getting out in the wild, like PFAs, “forever chemicals,” which have infested many waterways.

Berens added there are different aspects to the loss of local control, especially when it comes to non-disclosure agreements.

“I’m a comedian at riff you know, I got a little too riffy there,” he said.