Today’s big topic: Residents against Danish data center celebrate politicians’ U-turn
What’s happening?
On Wednesday evening, Holbæk’s old town hall was unusually packed as the city council prepared to debate the planned hyperscale data center. Every spectator seat was taken, people lined the walls, and more waited outside in the hallway. The project had originally enjoyed broad political support in 2024 because it promised new jobs, but public attitudes have shifted as data centers have come under growing criticism for their massive energy and water use, possible use of PFAS, and impacts such as noise, light pollution, and loss of nature.
That change was clear in Holbæk, where a citizens’ proposal opposing the project gathered more than 1,100 signatures. At the meeting, Eva Anker Lund of the Social Democratic Party announced that her party would recommend halting planning for the specific data center project. Since the Social Democratic Party holds 18 of the 31 council seats, the statement effectively means the project is likely to be shelved. After the meeting, opponents celebrated the announcement as both a local victory and a possible example for other municipalities.
Why it matters!
In August, Industry and Business Minister Martin Lidegaard of the Social Liberal Party declared that the government would draw up a national action plan for data centers. Society needs data centers, the minister said, but they must do more to serve Denmark’s interests.
Several politicians in Holbæk said during the evening’s debate that they were looking forward to the coming national strategy. When major players like the American tech giants move in, local politicians should not be left to shoulder the decisions alone, they said. As Jesper Hartøft from The Green Left put it:
»I feel very small out here in Holbæk Municipality when it comes to having to make such a major decision«.
Still curious? Read the full article here.
In other news
– The National Hospital of Denmark has an explanation problem
It came as a shock to politicians in the Capital Region when Rigshospitalet’s chief executive, Rasmus Møgelvang, and deputy chief executive, Jannick Brennum, briefed them in confidence on Monday about the personnel case that has led to the dismissal of three senior consultants with special expertise in pancreatic surgery. According to Politiken’s reporting, the dismissals were due in part to the senior consultants’ alleged failure to uphold patients’ rights, follow guidelines for protocol-based experimental surgery, or inform patients about alternatives to surgery.
The three senior consultants, however, deny that the procedures in question were experimental surgery and argue instead that they were treatments that have been used for several years in both Denmark and abroad, while it remains unclear which specific procedures the hospital management is referring to.
Still curious? Read the full article here.
– TV 2 footage shows broiler chickens fattened until they can no longer walk
When it gets dark, chickens do not eat. But even though the rules say they must have six hours of darkness each day, not all chicken producers comply. TV 2 has made undercover recordings from a chicken barn in North Jutland where the chickens get only three hours of darkness. That means they eat more and therefore reach a higher slaughter weight, but it is unnatural and not consistent with good animal welfare. Figures from the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration show that about one in three of the agency’s inspection visits to chicken producers this year has resulted in a sanction, and five cases have been reported to the police, according to the news agency Ritzau.
– Danish biotech company Genmab’s stock soars after new trial results for cancer drug
Shares in the Danish biotech company Genmab surged on Wednesday after the company released new trial data, according to the news agency Ritzau. Genmab shares closed up 29 percent on Wednesday, their biggest one-day jump in 15 years. On Wednesday, the company published results from a Phase 3 trial examining the effect of the cancer drug petosemtamab. The drug is intended for the treatment of head and neck cancer, according to a press release from the biotech company. The results show that the treatment cuts the risk of dying from head and neck cancer by half.
Talk of town: The Liberal Party board resigns over veteran member’s expulsion
Doors were slammed at an extraordinary board meeting Wednesday evening in the Aalborg North group of Venstre (The Liberal Party), where longtime justice spokesperson Preben Bang Henriksen was expelled.
At the meeting, the entire board decided to step down from their posts in protest over the expulsion. Pernille Sloth Christensen, the local group chairperson, told DR.
»We have been gathered, and everyone has had their say. There is no doubt that there has been frustration over the way the case has been handled and how the chairmanship has dealt with it«, she said. And according to Politiken’s political analyst Elisabet Svane, the reaction is entirely logical.
»This is Preben Bang Henriksen’s political base, and if you’ve been out there hanging his posters, then of course you are angry about what has happened. There have been sharp exchanges and discontent in North Jutland all along, and there are other local party organizations up there that are also starting to stir«, she said.
It is not only in Aalborg North, in other words, that The Liberal Party’s backing has made its dissatisfaction known. According to Elisabet Svane, this is a natural consequence of The Liberal Party’s »green journey«.
»As a party, they cannot avoid steering the party in a greener direction, and that will naturally lead to attrition within the party. It is a process risk they have no choice but to accept, and it cannot come as a surprise to anyone at the top of The Liberal Party that people are getting angry«, Elisabet Svane said.
It is therefore not certain that the Aalborg North group will be the last to protest against the party leadership.
Still curious? Read the full article here.
This newsletter features stories originally published in Danish. AI was used to shorten and translate the articles into English, after which a member of the editorial staff reviewed and refined the content.