Datacenter backlash unites political

A proposed 550-acre Google datacenter in Monrovia, Indiana, a town of 1,600 people, has sparked unified local opposition. Bryce Gustafson, lead organizer with the consumer and environmental group Citizens Action Coalition (CAC), reported that every one of 50 people he spoke to at a recent festival opposed the project, with several Trump voters questioning their party's support.

Gustafson says this fury over water-guzzling, air-polluting datacenters unites residents across Indiana, from rural Morgan County to the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood in Indianapolis. Similar dynamics are unfolding nationally. Over the last year, local opposition has intensified into a widespread movement. Political and tech elites initially dismissed it as routine local resistance, but the backlash has grown.

A Nationwide Political Force

Today, three-quarters of Americans oppose local datacenter development, a swing of over 30 points in a year. More than 500 counties and municipalities have passed datacenter bans or moratoria, while dozens of proposed projects have been canceled. The issue is now central to high-profile political races. In Ohio's US Senate battle, populist Democrat Sherrod Brown has made Republican Jon Husted's datacenter support a campaign centerpiece.

Republicans are taking notice. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who once touted his state as the "epicenter of AI development," recently said datacenters had "dug their own grave." In Michigan, GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers announced support for a one-year construction moratorium days after The Lever revealed he held millions in AI-related investments.

Unlikely Alliances Form

Organizers report new political configurations emerging from these fights. Ben Inskeep, program director at CAC, notes that on datacenters, people do not come in with firm partisan camps. He observes broad concern from Republicans, Democrats, and others across the spectrum, with individuals setting aside typical political divisions to unite against a common project.

William Lawrence, a Sunrise Movement co-founder and congressional candidate in Michigan, has made datacenter opposition a main focus. He is now hammering his Republican opponent on the issue. A recent poll finds Lawrence leading in the district. He calls this unifying force rare in a polarized time.

An anonymous organizer opposing datacenter construction in Texas reported unprecedented mobilization among rural Texans. People are realizing their state representatives are "batting for the tech oligarchs," leading to a shift where the divide between the working class and big corporate interests feels more important than the left-right political split.

Environmental and Economic Grievances

Gustafson has waited a long time for people to wake up to being "ripped off." Datacenters are uniquely offensive. Hyperscale facilities are large industrial warehouses covering dozens of acres. They generate debilitating noise pollution and severely impact local water tables. They use obscene amounts of energy, straining infrastructure and spiking utility rates.

AI developers are overwhelmingly meeting this energy demand with dirty fossil fuel generators. These spew planet-warming emissions and severely impact local air quality. Process concerns include the use of eminent domain, taxpayer subsidies, and tech companies pushing local officials to sign nondisclosure agreements that shroud deals in opacity.

These sites create only temporary construction work. Once operational, they do not provide significant long-term jobs for communities. The facilities produce added compute for a technology many believe will put billions out of work. In Hood County, Texas, which is 80% Republican, a woman told MS Now she would let the Senate fall to Democrats if that's what it took to kill datacenters, stating her entire community would break rank.