AI data centers are taking over. These Americans are fighting back

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AI data centers are taking over. These Americans are fighting back
Energy and water intensive AI projects are draining communities. The revolt is just getting started

By Jelinda Montes
Published June 12, 2026 6:30AM (EDT)


(Salon) In a rare moment of bipartisanship, there’s a force uniting Americans across the country: opposition to data centers.

In nearly every state, hyperscale data centers powering artificial intelligence are being proposed and built. These facilities need much more computing power compared to other data centers and that comes with a much larger footprint, in the literal and carbon sense. A typical hyperscale data center needs 10 acres, or 435,000 square feet of land. However, many of these proposed sites plan to use over 1 million square feet, which could fit a few Eiffel towers or roughly 50 Boeing 737 jets.

The list of potential drawbacks for communities receiving a data center are plentiful. The huge increased pressure on energy grids translates to higher utility bills, which puts additional strain on gas and coal plants, which of course jacks up toxic air pollution. Furthermore, the centers’ cooling systems need a lot of water, draining local aquifers and water tables, with the more efficient systems still requiring significant amounts. Even noise pollution from constant humming of the servers impacts local quality of life.

“When we bring this massive amount of electricity demand to the grid, and there’s a couple ways the grid can respond,” Jeremiah Johnson, an environmental researcher at North Carolina State University, said. “One is we have existing power plants that aren’t used at their full capacity, and we increase their output. Another way it can respond is neighboring regions can increase their output and ship electricity by transmission to where the data centers are, and a third option would be to build new power plants.” ..................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/06/12/ai-data-centers-are-taking-over-america-fighting-back-isnt-easy/