Over 230 environmental organizations have come together to call for a national moratorium on new datacenters in the United States. This bold step represents the breadth of their increasing worry about energy usage and environmental damage. According to the coalition’s concerns, datacenters may add as much as 44 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2030. This outrageous jump is truly dangerous and would accelerate the climate crisis we’re already experiencing.
The speedy spread of datacenters has set off emergency sirens for voters and climate activists across the board. Electricity consumption in these facilities is about to almost triple over the next decade. That increase will be roughly equivalent to the energy demand of over 190 million additional residences. This unprecedented increase in energy demand will more than double last year’s record-high consumer costs. This is even more alarming in a country where nearly 80 million Americans are already having trouble affording their electric and heating bills.
The real costs of datacenters ripple out much further than the average household. They are increasingly blamed for escalating electricity bills, with many voters across political lines attributing rising costs to these facilities. The situation has become a major headache for politicians, including former President Donald Trump, who has aggressively promoted the growth of artificial intelligence (AI) technology reliant on datacenters. Yet, Trump has rebranded himself as the “affordability president.” He further pledges to cut energy costs in half during his first year in office.
While these pledges are admirable in theory, ground-level implementation has proven otherwise. Local opposition has stalled or immediately killed at least 16 datacenter projects. These projects, worth a total of $64 billion, are failing primarily due to the high and increasing cost of electricity. Datacenters are spurring up this demand, exacerbating and compounding the utilities’ challenge to keep up. These companies are now feeling the burden of aging transmission lines and the widespread damage from extreme weather events.
“The rapid, largely unregulated rise of datacenters to fuel the AI and crypto frenzy is disrupting communities across the country and threatening Americans’ economic, environmental, climate and water security,” – Food & Water Watch
Emily Wurth, an advocate for sustainable energy practices, expressed her surprise at the bipartisan opposition that has emerged against the expansion of datacenters.
“I’ve been amazed by the groundswell of grassroots, bipartisan opposition to this, in all types of communities across the US,” – Emily Wurth
That worry and desire for change can be seen in recent electoral victories in states like Virginia, New Jersey, and Georgia. Candidates in these races are running on reducing power bill costs. In addition to fighting for better national policy, they’re making moves locally to slow datacenters’ spread.
Environmental groups have been entering the fray to push for a moratorium. Today, we’re watching how policymakers will respond to these unprecedented and urgent calls for action. The coalition cautions that datacenters are expanding at an uncontrolled pace. If we do not take aggressive action now, we risk dire economic and environmental repercussions.