Tell State Leaders: Stand Up to Big Tech.
Pass a Data Center Moratorium Now
Robert Reich / ActionNetwork
Big Tech is moving too fast to build gigantic data centers, as the bipartisan outcry across the country makes clear. Before ground breaks on any new facilities, residents must understand the costs, benefits, and tradeoffs. Not only do AI and cryptocurrency pose serious risks of their own, but the environmental and economic effects of their production must also be taken into consideration.
Running 24 hours a day, these facilities use huge amounts of electricity and water, generate continuous loud noise and bright light, and stress local infrastructure that was not built for this scale of activity.
Once built, these facilities shape a community’s quality of life for decades. States must understand and set clear rules now, before commitments are locked in. No one wants to discover ten years later that the biggest decisions about their neighborhoods were made without them.
Pennsylvania is showing what’s possible right now. Under proposed Senate Bill 1359, a three-year pause in hyperscale data center permitting would give the state the opportunity to study environmental, energy, and economic impacts before breaking ground for any new projects.
And New York has also taken a first step. Governor Kathy Hochul ordered a one-year pause on large data centers while the state studies energy impacts. It would be even better to extend that pause to three years, giving policymakers even more time to fully understand water use, costs, and community impact.
States must know: who’s going to foot the bill for surges in power and water use? How will residents be protected against air and noise pollution? Will communities share the economic upside through something like a sovereign wealth fund?
We can, and must, establish necessary guardrails to ensure this technology works for all of us — not just the Big Tech oligarchs trying to become trillionaires.
Thank you for standing up to Big Tech.
Robert Reich
Inequality Media Civic Action
