In communities across the United States, a rare political alignment is emerging as conservative farmers and environmental advocates find common ground in opposing the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence data centers. This unlikely coalition is voicing concerns about dwindling farmland, strained water supplies, and rising electricity costs, as well as the potential for massive corporations to transform small towns into hubs for a national computing network.
The debate transcends typical partisan boundaries, cutting across political affiliations and geographic locations. While supporters, including some labor leaders and former President Donald Trump, tout the potential for job creation and economic growth, and see data centers as crucial for maintaining U.S. technological supremacy over China, opposition is surging. Hostility towards the rapid pace of data center development has intensified, forcing elected officials at all levels to navigate a shifting political landscape.
In eastern Nebraska, near the village of Murdock, plans for data centers have been met with significant local resistance. Farmers like Judy Stroy, whose family has cultivated the land for generations, worry about the long-term impact on food production as land is increasingly consumed by industrial development. "With the amount of ground that's getting gobbled up every year, our food source is in trouble," Stroy stated.
Cass County, where Murdock is located, has implemented a 12-month moratorium on new data center developments. This pause affects potential plans by energy company Tenaska to develop a large site that could house a data center and a natural gas power plant. A Tenaska spokesperson indicated the company is exploring power generation to serve significant energy demands and aims to collaborate with public entities and communities.
In New Mexico, a massive $165 billion data center complex known as Project Jupiter, planned by Oracle near the Mexican border, has drawn fierce opposition primarily over concerns about water scarcity. Samantha Barncastle Salopek, a water attorney and Republican candidate for Doña Ana County Commission, highlighted that the issue unites people across the political spectrum due to the state's ongoing drought and critically low reservoir levels. Activists fear that competition for limited water resources could jeopardize agricultural sectors like pecan and chile farming. Oracle has pledged investments in water systems and agricultural technology to mitigate impacts, estimating significant job creation and tax revenue, while also designing the facility for low water usage. However, the Center for Biological Diversity has challenged the state's approval of well drilling for the project, leading the New Mexico Supreme Court to halt authorization for water use from a new well pending legal resolution.
Despite these local and state-level challenges, some labor leaders see data centers as a source of new employment opportunities. Mike Gage, president of the Nebraska State AFL-CIO, acknowledged concerns about job displacement due to AI but emphasized the potential for construction and long-term operational roles. "This problem is also a very big opportunity for some small communities," Gage remarked, citing a decades-old data center in Iowa that continues to employ around 60 people.
While some politicians champion data centers for economic benefits, others are expressing caution. Democratic governors in New York and Pennsylvania have implemented new regulations or slowed approvals for data center projects. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott halted new data center approvals pending audits of their impact on the state's electrical grid, criticizing developers for not collaborating with officials. Even within the Republican party, some candidates are campaigning against data centers, framing them as a threat to local communities. Former President Trump, however, remains a proponent, advocating for data centers to build their own power plants to alleviate concerns about utility costs and to bolster U.S. technological competitiveness.