The New NIMBY: Everyone Hates The Data Centers
QUICK READ: Costs associated with AI-driven large scale data centers—electrical, water, and land use; diminished home values; noise and air pollution, and more—are creating massive problems for communities in which they seek to locate, leading to organized local resistance from both sides of the aisle. We are calling for federal and state regulation now.
CONTENTS:
BACKGROUND
Is AI bringing strange bedfellows together?
An avalanche of environmental, economic and social problems are associated with these “resource-ravenous” data centers:
Rising energy demands and electric bills;
The expansive use of dirty energy (gas, coal, and nuclear fueling);
Water supply endangerment
Increasing air pollution;
The draining of public funds, threat to jobs, and potential imperilment of the entire economy;
The blight on local communities;
The international toxic trash dump;
The devouring of personal data.
As multi-billion-dollar AI-driven data center projects are being constructed across the country, these serious problems are momentarily creating unlikely alliances in our deeply divided nation.
Well-attended town hall meetings pull together locals of all political stripes working jointly on Signal chats and social media pages who’ve also developed critical skill sets needed to collect government documents, file petitions, and engage in legal fund-raising. Yard signs and lawsuits are popping up all over.
The AI boom and accompanying activist criticisms are generating a whole new kind of NIMBY sentiment as data center projects worth over $64 billion have either been blocked outright or at least delayed by local opposition.
Despite their few temporary benefits—union construction jobs, tax incentives, and the repurposing of unwanted farmland, for example—the general consensus is that data centers, like any other project impacting our communities, must be regulated, especially because local town boards are no match for the wealthy companies and their sneaky and anonymous behavior.
While necessary state and federal legislation is being pursued, moratoriums against data center construction must be enacted.
ACTION One: Call the Senate.
Script for Oregon Senators
SEN. MERKLEY: Portland office: 503-326-3386 | D.C. office: 202-224-3753
My name is [--] and I'm a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
Because our towns and communities negatively impacted by data centers need immediate relief, construction moratoriums are a must. In the long run, tax incentives must be repealed, transparency must replace secretive contracts and nondisclosure agreements, consumers need rate protections, and clean energy goals must take precedence over data center expansion.
SEN. WYDEN:
Portland office: 503-326-7525 | D.C. office: 202-224-5244
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
Because our towns and communities negatively impacted by data centers need immediate relief, construction moratoriums are a must. In the long run, tax incentives must be repealed, transparency must replace secretive contracts and nondisclosure agreements, consumers need rate protections, and clean energy goals must take precedence over data center expansion.
Script for Republican Senators
D.C switchboard: 202-224-3121
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], [state], [zip code].
Because our towns and communities negatively impacted by data centers need immediate relief, construction moratoriums are a must. In the long run, tax incentives must be repealed, transparency must replace secretive contracts and nondisclosure agreements, consumers need rate protections, and clean energy goals must take precedence over data center expansion.
ACTION TWO: Call the House.
Script for Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01)
Oregon office: 503-469-6010 | DC office: 202-225-0855
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
Because our towns and communities negatively impacted by data centers need immediate relief, construction moratoriums are a must. In the long run, tax incentives must be repealed, transparency must replace secretive contracts and nondisclosure agreements, consumers need rate protections, and clean energy goals must take precedence over data center expansion.
Script for Cliff Bentz (OR-02)
Medford office: 541-776-4646 | DC office: 202-225-6730
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
Because our towns and communities negatively impacted by data centers need immediate relief, construction moratoriums are a must. In the long run, tax incentives must be repealed, transparency must replace secretive contracts and nondisclosure agreements, consumers need rate protections, and clean energy goals must take precedence over data center expansion.
Script for Maxine Dexter (OR-03)
Oregon office: 503-231-2300 | DC office: 202-225-4811
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
Because our towns and communities negatively impacted by data centers need immediate relief, construction moratoriums are a must. In the long run, tax incentives must be repealed, transparency must replace secretive contracts and nondisclosure agreements, consumers need rate protections, and clean energy goals must take precedence over data center expansion.
Script for Val Hoyle (OR-04)
Eugene office: 541-465-6732 | DC office: 202-225-6416
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
Because our towns and communities negatively impacted by data centers need immediate relief, construction moratoriums are a must. In the long run, tax incentives must be repealed, transparency must replace secretive contracts and nondisclosure agreements, consumers need rate protections, and clean energy goals must take precedence over data center expansion.
Script for Janelle Bynum (OR-05)
Oregon City office: 503-387-8651 |DC office: 202-225-5711
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
Because our towns and communities negatively impacted by data centers need immediate relief, construction moratoriums are a must. In the long run, tax incentives must be repealed, transparency must replace secretive contracts and nondisclosure agreements, consumers need rate protections, and clean energy goals must take precedence over data center expansion.
Script for Andrea Salinas (OR-06)
Salem office: 503-385-0906 | DC office: 202-225-5643
My name is [–] and I’m a constituent from [city], Oregon [zip code].
Because our towns and communities negatively impacted by data centers need immediate relief, construction moratoriums are a must. In the long run, tax incentives must be repealed, transparency must replace secretive contracts and nondisclosure agreements, consumers need rate protections, and clean energy goals must take precedence over data center expansion.
FURTHER READING
https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2026/03/04/the-top-10-reasons-data-centers-must-be-stopped/
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/fight-over-data-centers
https://www.wri.org/insights/us-data-center-growth-impacts
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/turning-the-data-center-boom-into-long-term-local-prosperity/
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/us/politics/liberals-conservatives-data-centers.html
https://www.datacentermap.com/usa/
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/17/nx-s1-5469933/virginia-data-centers-residents-saying-no
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/7gCs7zFYavk
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/5605667-data-center-criticism-study/
https://climatepower.us/news/new-polling-research-on-ai-data-centers-costs-and-pollution/
