Do we need data centers?

Yes, to live modern life we do need data centers. They fuel everything from this web site to the upcoming season of Bridgerton. They aren’t new, but LLM AI speculation is fueling massive infrastructure build-out.

We want to put the brakes on the flurry of poorly-reviewed projects, some of which require more than 100% of local energy or water with no plan for procurement. This isn’t NIMBY…we don’t want this explosion of growth in anyone’s back yard. If technology is so important we should give it our water and power, it’s important enough to take the time to evaluate carefully.

Learn more.

Information about AI and data centers is everywhere. This is a much-talked-about issue, so we’re just going to offer a few places to get started:

Harvard article with an industry expert on the reality of data center benefits and costs. This is a good overview with some myths debunked, but does not include direct action steps.

brockovichdatacenter.com : yes, that Erin Brokovich has launched a center to track data center projects and consolidate efforts to stop them before they launch.

airesistlist.org : the AI Resist list addresses far more than data centers, and provides a good grounding into why the idea we should mortgage the world’s water and power for AI is bankrupt

Media Resist has a comprehensive toolkit. While vetting it for inclusion, we learned new things. For example, we were skeptical that the US has more data centers than the rest of the world together, but in fact it has more than 5000, while the rest of the world has fewer than 1,500. Reminiscent of the “arms race” used to fuel endless military growth, our “arch nemesis” isn’t even close: China has fewer than 500.

Specific Actions:

The Nashville Zoo is trying to block a large data center that would be directly adjacent to endangered animal breeding programs and more. They are concerned about light pollution, noise, and other impacts and would like people from anywhere to join their petition. News coverage with link here.