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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFox tells viewers to buy artificial trees so the tree farms can be converted to data centers.
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Raven123
(7,545 posts)
tanyev
(48,662 posts)Last edited Sun Dec 21, 2025, 11:58 PM - Edit history (1)
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ms liberty
(10,966 posts)SWBTATTReg
(26,039 posts)Ideal conditions for deciduous fruit trees include good air and water drainage. Rolling hills and sandy soil are ideal. Also, they need a certain number of "chill hours" in the winter in order to bloom and set fruit - 200-800 hours below 40 degrees F, depending upon the variety - so the farther south you go, the higher the elevation for orchards.
SWBTATTReg
(26,039 posts)tree farms are usually located in the middle of nowhere, Missouri, no people, no major infrastructure, etc. That's why I had my Xmas tree farm out there, nothing else out there other than cleared out pasture (for the most part), and not great soil (in the Ozarks). Took the trees forever to grow, and the deer damaged most of them (deer apparently love the tender shoots of baby pine trees/baby Xmas trees). Needless to say, there are probably some trees still down there growing, I don't know. My feeble attempt to grow trees...
EarlG
(23,356 posts)Last edited Sun Dec 21, 2025, 03:21 PM - Edit history (1)
I couldn't find the Mike Drucker and FactPost posts on X.com, but this is not a fake story. Fox News did run a segment in which their anchor argued in favor of sacrificing a Christmas tree farm for a power transmission line.
Apologies for the incorrect information.
muriel_volestrangler
(105,562 posts)I mean, this would be world-class stupid. The world is a better place when an influential channel is not quite as evil as a tweet said.
EarlG
(23,356 posts)My "unfortunately" was directed at the OP who presumably posted the image in good faith, and I felt bad about correcting them.
muriel_volestrangler
(105,562 posts)(very annoying, since many DUers use it). I can see your image. So maybe there's something more in the OP image that is the "fake" bit. But the tweeted FactPost clip from Fox does seem real - https://www.foxbusiness.com/shows/the-big-money-show https://www.foxbusiness.com/shows/the-big-money-show has it for Dec 13 under "Christmas tree farm fights proposed energy project" (end of that clip - around 8:00 onwards).
EarlG
(23,356 posts)You're correct. In that segment, the anchor basically takes a dump on a Christmas tree farm in favor of the power transmission lines that are going to plow through it. I will say that this is interesting to me since it highlights the complexity of dealing with the "fake information" issue on DU, which I'm having a conversation about in Community Help.
In this case, a single Fox News anchor says that a particular Christmas tree farm should not stand in the way of a power transmission line that is going to serve a "densely populated area." The anchor says, "It's not about AI, it's about economic growth" and "the alternative will be that some liberals will put some giant solar panels on that land."
The FactPost X post turns that into, "Fox tells Americans to buy artificial trees so Christmas tree farms can be used for data centers." Obviously that's inaccurate. But is if "fake information?" Or is it just some pretty heavy political spin? There is a kernel of truth in there somewhere.
(I will say I thought I'd done my due diligence by not being able to find the X.com posts in the image, but that could be because X.com is terrible.)
I've edited my previous post. I think this falls within the boundaries of political spin as opposed to simple fake news.
muriel_volestrangler
(105,562 posts)Fox News presents, at the start of the clip, it as due to demand for AI in Virginia, needing a 67 mile power line through Maryland. And lots of people do say it's about AI data centers, despite what the anchor says:
...
“When there’s not enough capacity to go around in a zone — like during extreme winter storms or hot weather events — zones with data centers that have not yet brought their own capacity will be curtailed first,” Lang-Ree said. “This action will shield the public from blackout risk and save hundreds of billions of dollars.”
The proposal comes as the state seeks to move forward with the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a controversial plan to build a 67-mile high-voltage transmission line through private properties across three counties to help meet data center demand. Republican state Sen. Chris West said the bipartisan proposal would prevent similar projects in the future.
“New transmission lines can devastate homes, farms, families and entire communities, and those local costs are too often overlooked,” West, who represents parts of Baltimore and Carroll counties, said.
https://www.wbal.com/maryland-lawmakers-push-to-limit-data-center-impact-on-electric-bills
The 500-kilovolt line would skim a parking lot, cross through the woods and over a metal deer fence, before running diagonally across a field of Douglas firs and blue spruces and continuing as far as the eye could see.
Gaver, a seventh-generation farmer, wants no part of what she and other landowners in rural Maryland call an “extension cord” for data centers in Northern Virginia 50 miles away. She figures that the tens of thousands of patrons who descend on the 150-acre farm annually to pick pumpkins, find their perfect Christmas tree and munch on apple cider doughnuts don’t either.
“It’s going to financially devastate us,” she said. “There’s $4 million worth of inventory in this field.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/maryland-farmers-data-centers-extension-cord-power-lines-rcna233324
EarlG
(23,356 posts)My attention has been drawn to issues of potentially fake content today and I think I overreacted to this. This is a real story with some political spin attached.
Polybius
(21,511 posts)Who the hell is waiting this long to buy a tree? It's not 1930.
fujiyamasan
(1,227 posts)I have data center stocks I bought at the top. My bags are getting heavy. I need them pumped!
Response to Swede (Original post)
PeaceWave This message was self-deleted by its author.
D_Master81
(2,344 posts)Let’s just turn all free land into data centers! We can lead the world in AI. Our utility bills might be $700 a month but we will be #1 in the world. Get on board baby!