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Trying to ram data centers into states to power Google searches, Chat GPT prompts, and “clever” advice from Claude, Siri, and Grok friends with minimal regulation is a provocative bid for political domination that has created the conditions for yet another major political backlash. Communities in dozens of states are coming to grips not only with increasing electricity bills, but with possible water shortages, noise pollution, and, in many cases, the disappearance of green spaces and wild places. In their own imperious way, the tech oligarchs may have done the country a favor: Democrats and Republicans who can’t seem to agree on anything else in this sadly polarized country are teaming up to confront the economic and environmental harms that follow these facilities and demand that federal, state, and local officials listen up. |
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–Gabrielle Gurley, senior editor |
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The major artificial intelligence companies’ prime directive to literally bulldoze AI infrastructure into states with minimal regulation has produced citizen-led, bipartisan demands for local and national moratoriums on data center siting. While the Trump administration is doing everything it can to facilitate the only capital spending with a pulse in the economy, these calls for moratoriums are growing, and connecting with local successes in blocking data center construction.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) recently called for a national moratorium on the construction of data centers that are “powering this unregulated sprint to develop and deploy AI.” Sanders did credit “the transformative power of AI and robotics” before calling out Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel, and Bill Gates with a simple question: “Are these multibillionaires staying up nights worrying about what AI and robotics will do to the working families of our country and the world?” The answer would be mostly no.
Over 230 organizations across the 50 states signed on to a letter to members of Congress organized by Food & Water Watch, a national advocacy group, also calling for a national moratorium on data center siting and construction. The letter characterized generative AI and crypto as generational threats.
But it’s the local rejections of data centers—in places as varied as Chandler, Arizona, and Leesburg, Indiana—that should have the tech oligarchs worried. These results demonstrate that Americans are beginning to grasp the downsides of inserting AI into every facet of daily life. This mushrooming grassroots backlash promises to dominate American politics in 2026.
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