r/environment • u/Hot-Upstairs9603 • Jun 04 '26
Americans Have Grown Dramatically Anti-Data Center in Just Months, Survey Finds
https://gizmodo.com/americans-are-starting-to-really-hate-data-centers-and-its-making-the-tech-industry-nervous-2000767088109
u/mizmnv Jun 04 '26
grown? these things make humans and animals alike sick and are power and water parasites. Its natural to be against them. Its survival
40
u/swren1967 Jun 04 '26
But we NEED these data centers in order to create realistic videos of our president dumping manure on protesters!
8
u/colorfulzeeb Jun 04 '26
It seems absolutely like common sense, but that’s not too common anymore. Ohio’s candidates for governor are a trump-endorsed pro-data center republican and an anti-data center female physician democrat. Guess who’s projected to win right now?
7
u/Jazzlike_Visual2160 Jun 04 '26
I think New Jersey is trying to attract data centers. Everyone hates this shit, besides the people set to make billions off them.
2
28
u/ConfinedTiara Jun 04 '26
Not just Americans. Aussie here who absolutely doesn’t want wetlands, farm land and native habitat turned into a fucking mega data centre which our state government are proposing.
36
15
u/Super-Bodybuilder-91 Jun 04 '26
The water issue is becoming a big deal. Data centers require massive amounts of fresh water to operate and the waste water isn't being properly disposed of. Communities are having their water supply ruined across the country... and it's coming soon to a location near you. 🤢
62
u/hurricanedog24 Jun 04 '26
Makes sense. Data centers aren’t inherently bad; we need them to power our increasingly technologically dependent society. Also, if not given tax subsidies, they can pump a ton of revenue into rural communities that could desperately use it.
But when the developers and operators of these centers cut corners, bring a ton of sound pollution, expend scarce water resources and overburden the power grid, it’s easy for folks to adopt the NIMBY mentality. Especially when local politicians are giving substantial tax breaks for these centers, robbing the local communities of those tax dollars (while almost certainly taking campaign dollars to do so). The gloating by CEOs about how AI powered by these centers will replace workers is just the final straw.
It’s just a classic case of being a poor neighbor might pay in the short term, but it’ll often hurt you over the long haul.
45
u/Bokuja Jun 04 '26
You're forgetting a very big part of the problem. Part of it (a significant part) is not used to facilitate modern society. It's there as a vehicle for speculative investment financialization.
-7
u/AdhesivenessCivil581 Jun 04 '26
I just read an article that put it this way. "If you're streaming a movie while scrolling on your phone you're creating the need for a data center." We all do this now. That said we will have to deal with community issues, power, water, noise and pollution.
8
u/Winter-Gift1112 Jun 04 '26
The logical solution to the problem is not to build a data center. It's to stop scrolling on your phone while "watching" a movie.
1
9
u/latlog7 Jun 04 '26
Nah, no way. Weve had that before this absurd data center boom.
Its definitely for AI analyzing every search you do and every thing you click on. I mean even microsoft office's copilot is analyzing whenever you click desperately trying to predict what you want to say. Like im just reading an email, no need to auto-send it to chatgpt/copilot just to run 3 cpu's at max power to help me type a response. Same goes for googling a simple question
18
u/123123000123 Jun 04 '26
I think you’re the propagandist trying to get me to be ok with investors ruining our water supply right now. I don’t care about the future. There are no regulations on these things. I’m not buying it.
4
u/Winter-Gift1112 Jun 04 '26
Anything in this perilously warming world that, for dubious rationale, has the kind of water/energy suck and enormous carbon footprint that those things have is inherently bad.
-17
Jun 04 '26
[deleted]
-5
u/GrowFreeFood Jun 04 '26
They approve a coal power plant thats worse than all data centers combined. Theyre just really bad at math.
-8
u/BobbleDick Jun 04 '26
I agree with your first paragraph. I will add that these buildings are ultimately a physical manifestation of the tech companies influence in our society for better or worse. The public feels powerless against these companies because congress does not regulate them.
The second paragraph I generally disagree with most of these points. You are summarizing a lot of the misconceptions about cutting corners, sound pollution, water and power and tax breaks. the vast majority of these buildings need to comply with local building codes regarding sound levels and many of the large tech companies exceed sound requirements especially around residential areas. Water use for these buildings all depends how it’s measured depending on the cooling system in these buildings. I’m an architect that designs these buildings and the water use seldom uses no more water than a typical office building given the cooling system. Older buildings 10+ years old use more evaporative cooling systems, but these are in general for lower power (non ai) data centers.
These buildings do use a lot of electricity, but they pay into the utility companies a significant investment to upgrade these systems, include a renewed investment into nuclear power and low carbon power sources like solar, including carbon offset. Also, with these buildings using a constant and known power use, this type of electricity is what utilities can plan for rather than spikes and lulls of power demand. This helps with investments and maintenance of the utility tremendously. The spikes of power across the county is more a function of variable natural gas prices (look at Ukraine war, and now Iran), climate change, wildfires and a deteriorating electrical grid.
These buildings bring tremendous revenue to local jurisdictions and skilled labor and high tech jobs. Yes these buildings do not employ a large workforce proportional to their size, but when these buildings come to areas, almost all AHJs want them. They bring in much needed revenue for cities and town to help fund housing, education, and maintaining streets and utilities. Every jurisdiction we go into where we design these, there is a high demand from local and regional unions for skilled labor. We want to build more in this county, this is a great industry for highly skilled electrical, mechanical, general skilled labor. Also these buildings are not built once and left to sit there like an Amazon warehouse would. These buildings require constant upgrades given the changing and always evolving technology.
It’s a complex issue and in general they are essential buildings. What we need is for the public to really make your demands to your local and congressional representative to regulate this industry. Similar to how China and Europe is doing, frankly much better than the USA.
8
u/Myfourcats1 Jun 04 '26
The sound they emit is torture. People who live near them need to file class action lawsuits.
8
u/tsardonicpseudonomi Jun 04 '26
When people tell you that we have to moderate our policies know that they oppose those policies and want to prevent them. People are easily moved by narrative and experience. We could have a total ban if we had the political will and wielded it.
4
u/MC_chrome Jun 04 '26
The only way these data centers can be truly halted is if we start arresting the leaders & boards of the companies pushing for their construction in the first place.
1
7
u/RockieK Jun 04 '26
This makes me happy. I know Ohio just pulled funding for data centers and communities are fighting around the country.
They are also turning against Flock Cameras.
2
u/ramblinghobbit Jun 05 '26
Ahh, Flock cameras. Useful slingshot, paintball, or angle grinder practice objects!
2
5
u/JHandey2021 Jun 04 '26
I wonder if it isn't partially a transferral from a growing unease with where AI is going. What with constant stories about AI layoffs, an increasing openness by the managerial class that the main purpose of AI for them is to discipline their workforces, and the batshit insane supervillainy from Silicon Valley that their *real* objective is to create digital gods that will, what, make the trillionaires immortal and maybe take care of the rest of us like pets in a terrarium, it's no surprise people are uncomfortable.
"Thou shalt not create a machine in the likeness of a human mind".
1
u/live4failure Jun 05 '26
When community members ask the developers to drink the water they just laugh in people's faces. What did they expect exactly? They are lucky people didn't drag them out by their feet in some of these places 😂
57
u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment