Beating Back Data Centers [View all]

[justaprogressive]

The United States is the hub of the data center universe, and that supremacy owes much to Northern Virginia and its proximity to major clients like the Pentagon and other gargantuan data-crunchers with state-of-the-art computing demands. These clients give data center developers the power, influence, and dollars to operate unfettered in a lax land-use environment.

But beyond federal clients, a well-educated workforce, and infrastructure benefits like fiber-optic networks, there are hundreds of acres of undeveloped (read: forested or farm), lightly regulated land in Virginia where rezoning land from agricultural to industrial use is cheaper for a developer than trying to compete with other users for the available industrial parcels.

Even more importantly, Virginia does not have any state regulations for data centers. Outmatched local officials are left to craft their own ordinances and codes, or not. Desperate for tax revenues to serve their don’t-tax-me-again residents, county governments have grabbed onto data centers as fiscal lifesavers. After all, public services must flow.

The Sierra Club/Virginia Chapter’s “Unconstrained Demand” report, published in May, finds that Virginia is on track to site more than 1,300 data centers in the years ahead. Facilities either completed or in development could spread over 390,000,000 square feet of land, use billions of gallons of water, and consume energy that would otherwise power millions of homes. They erase forests and farms, suck up groundwater, churn out noise that disturbs sleep, and compromise climate goals.

https://prospect.org/environment/2025-08-18-beating-back-data-centers/]