More than 230 environmental and health groups are demanding Congress impose a moratorium on new US data center construction, citing skyrocketing energy costs and environmental damage from the AI boom. The coordinated push represents the strongest regulatory challenge yet to tech companies' infrastructure expansion, as communities increasingly push back against projects they say threaten local resources and drive up electricity bills.
The data center backlash just got serious. A coalition of 230+ environmental and health organizations delivered a unified message to Congress Monday: pause all new data center construction until proper regulations exist to protect communities from soaring costs and environmental damage.
"The rapid, largely unregulated rise of data centers to fuel the AI and crypto frenzy is disrupting communities across the country," the groups state in their congressional letter. The coalition includes major players like Food & Water Watch, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Greenpeace - organizations that rarely coordinate on tech infrastructure issues.
This isn't just activist noise. Communities are winning real battles against Big Tech's infrastructure push. An estimated 20 data center projects got blocked or stalled between March and June this year alone, according to industry tracking data. That's a dramatic shift from just two years ago when these facilities faced minimal local resistance.
The timing couldn't be worse for tech giants. Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta are all racing to build massive AI infrastructure to support their generative AI ambitions. But the energy math is brutal - and voters noticed. Rising electricity rates driven partly by AI's energy demands became a legitimate election issue in November, particularly in swing states where data centers are concentrating.
The water usage projections are staggering. Food & Water Watch estimates that AI data centers could consume as much water by 2028 as 18.5 million US households use indoors. That's equivalent to the indoor water usage of Virginia, Maryland, and Washington DC combined. Each ChatGPT query uses roughly a bottle of water for cooling, and usage is only accelerating.
Energy companies are responding predictably - by building more fossil fuel infrastructure. Utilities plan to meet AI's power demands with across the Southeast, which would lock in decades of climate emissions. Recent research also links this expansion to increased in communities near data centers.
