NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Energy, the environment and the boom in power-hungry data centers have opened one of the clearest divides between the two major-party nominees for Tennessee governor, in a race that is likely to give the state its first woman in the office.
The stakes are real. A governor can veto bills that favor heavily polluting energy sources, push back on federal environmental rollbacks and steer state agencies toward programs that improve air quality or cut heat risks.
Republican nominee Marsha Blackburn, now a U.S. senator, has made nuclear power a centerpiece. Last year she and fellow Sen. Bill Hagerty co-wrote an opinion piece urging the Tennessee Valley Authority to name an interim CEO and look outside the agency for leaders who could drive a large nuclear buildout, arguing that new reactors are needed to power artificial intelligence and advanced manufacturing. TVA is planning small modular reactors in Oak Ridge.
Environmental groups have been critical of her record. The League of Conservation Voters gives Blackburn a lifetime score of 3 percent on its environmental scorecard, and in 2020 she voted against the bipartisan Great American Outdoors Act, which funds public lands including Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Democratic nominee Jerri Green, a Memphis lawyer and city council member, has centered her plan on reining in data centers. Her platform calls for an executive order backing a statewide moratorium on new data centers and an end to state incentives for building them. It would also require tech companies to cool servers with recycled water and penalize big employers that swap out at least 25 workers for artificial intelligence, steering those fines into local job retraining.
The issue is live in her own city. Green was on the losing side last week when the Memphis council voted to delay action on a proposed 12-month pause on new data centers there; the council is expected to return to the measure on Oct. 20.
The debate comes as TVA has announced plans to reinvest in its coal plants to keep up with growing electricity demand, much of it from data centers. Election Day is Nov. 3, and early voting runs through Oct. 29.
Section: More Nashville TN politics news
Filed under: Nashville TN Politics News
