GoKawiilAmericans don’t agree on much, but that’s not the case when it comes to data centers.
Seven in 10 Americans oppose building data centers for artificial intelligence in or near their communities. Despite this, the federal government is moving to make it easier for them to be built. And in some places, residents won’t even get the chance to raise concerns publicly or even know if a data center is coming to their neighborhoods.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency plans to scrap a federal requirement that states tell the public — and allow public comment — before approving air-pollution permits for industrial facilities. That includes the data centers rising across the country, as well as the power plants built to feed their enormous appetite for electricity.
At the same time, the EPA last month also proposed another change that would let developers start building data centers before their permits are approved.
The rural South, which is home to a disproportionate amount of Black communities, has seen the largest growth of these large data centers. The proposals and lack of transparency may worsen health risks, increase utility bills, and contribute to community displacement, residents told Capital B.
The change at the federal level would mean that, in some places, residents could lose one of their few formal chances to ask questions, raise alarms, or learn that a data center is headed their way before the permits are signed and construction begins.
Paul Black, an environmental activist organizing against a data center complex the size of 1,200 football fields in rural South Carolina, said these moves “run counter to the way American democracy is sold to us.”
“It is a betrayal of everything that this country should stand for, purports to stand for. It runs counter to the will of the people,” he added.
The data center project currently being debated in his 40% Black community was only proposed there after developers tried — and failed — to build a similar campus in a predominantly white county in Georgia.
The change at the federal level would mean that, in some places, residents could lose one of their few formal chances to ask questions, raise alarms, or learn that a data center is headed their way before the permits are signed and construction begins.
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