The AI Tightrope Walk in DC, 50 Shots in Tobyhanna, and a Bipartisan Bug Hunt

AI AND MONROE COUNTY: THE TIGHTROPE WALK OF OUR CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION

Artificial intelligence's growing demand for power is reshaping Pennsylvania's power grid and, as we have repeatedly reported, the data center fight has landed on Monroe County's doorstep. How our three members of Congress talk about it, though, reveals a familiar tightrope: champion the AI boom's upside in Washington, then offer careful sympathy for the fallout back home.

On July 29, Sen. Dave McCormick delivered a policy address at the Manhattan Institute, framing AI as a national-security race against China and calling for faster buildout of infrastructure. But he also aimed some of his sharpest words at the industry itself, criticizing developers who have "acquired property through shell companies or withheld information about proposed facilities," but holding up private equity firm Blackstone and its data center developer QTS as examples of doing it right. It's a notable shift in tone from a senator who spent last summer's Pittsburgh summit onstage next to President Trump touting $90 billion in AI investment. Whether "covenants" and developer shaming affect proposed projects in northeast Pennsylvania townships remains to be seen.

Before he was writing legislation to slow AI and data center developers, Rep. Rob Bresnahan was one of their biggest boosters. At a May 2025 energy meeting in Scranton, he said the federal government needs to get "out of the way" of data center and AI progress, backing faster permitting and possible tax breaks for AI development zones. A year later, his tone has shifted. He was the primary sponsor behind the Local Control Protection Act (H.R. 9262), introduced on June 11, that would let municipalities defend zoning denials against developer lawsuits and require community benefit agreements. "We should never let billion-dollar corporations supersede the voices of those who live in the community," Bresnahan said at the time. Nearly two months later, the bill has zero co-sponsors and hasn't moved since being referred to committee — a reminder that introducing a bill and passing one are very different things.

That flip has also become a campaign issue. Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, the Democrat challenging Bresnahan for the 8th District seat, rolled out a $200,000 TV ad campaign last week hitting him directly on data centers, telling companies, "We're not for sale.” It's the clearest sign yet that the data center fight is headed straight into one of the most competitive House races in the country this November.

Sen. John Fetterman's AI footprint has run mostly through research infrastructure — he co-sponsored the National Programmable Cloud Laboratories Network Act with Republican Ted Budd back in December. The Act aims to establish a federally backed network of AI-enabled, automated labs that allow researchers to run remote, programmable experiments and large-scale data workflows. On the prospect of data centers landing in Monroe County backyards, though, he's had comparatively little to say, even as McCormick and Shapiro have both staked out public positions.

All three want Pennsylvania to be an AI and energy powerhouse. All three, to varying degrees, are also fielding real anger from constituents who object to footing the water and utility bills for it. You can't fully champion the buildout while fully insulating the people living next to it, and until Washington reconciles that, Monroe County residents have earned the right to be skeptical of our politicians. Full remarks and legislative records for Sen. McCormick, Sen. Fetterman, and Rep. Bresnahan are available on their respective official websites.

🏛️ THE VIEW FROM THE 8TH

Senators Team Up Against the Bugs. Sens. John Fetterman and Dave McCormick joined Sens. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) this week to introduce the Spotted Lanternfly Research and Development Act, which would designate the invasive pest a high-priority research initiative for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture. It is a rare four-way, cross-party pairing on a bug that needs no introduction to anyone in Monroe County this summer. The funding fight, and whether it moves the needle on the infestation, is the part worth watching next.

📋 THE DAILY RUNDOWN

50 Shots in Tobyhanna. Pocono Mountain Regional Police are asking for the public's help after more than 50 shots were fired outside Kingdom Cigar Lounge in the Tobyhanna Shopping Plaza (970 Route 196, Coolbaugh Township) just before 2 a.m. on Aug. 2. Officers arriving on scene found more than 50 spent shell casings in the parking lot; witness statements and video showed a group had fired into a large crowd, striking several vehicles. Most patrons had already left by the time police arrived, and no injuries were reported. No suspects have been named. Anyone with information or footage is asked to call PMRPD at 570-895-2400.