Below you will find a number of resources that have been compiled over time for our NCEJN newsletter – Please subscribe to learn more about the state of environmental justice locally, nationally and internationally, and the work that NCEJN does across North Carolina.
NCEJN FACT SHEET on data center impacts in North Carolina
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REPORTS + STUDIES:
- Getting It Right; Local Approaches to Data Center Development – SELC report
- Data Center Power Plan: How Clean Energy can meet rising electricity demand while delivering climate and health benefits – The Union of Concerned Scientists report
- Governor Stein’s Energy Policy Task Force Releases Interim Report – report
- Localized Air Pollution Impacts from Data Centers in Northern Virginia – study
- Health implications of the rapid rise of data centers in Virginia: an exploratory assessment – study
- Regulating data center water use in California – report
- Nine ways to address the energy impacts of AI Data Centers – Vanderbilt University report
- AI’s water and electricity use soars in 2025 – study
- Cloudy Data, Costly Deals: How Poorly States Disclose Data Center Subsidies – report
- Global Ramifications, Local Impact – Microsoft’s AI Pollution Footprint – report
- Proposed Data Centers in Indian Country – report
- Data Crunch : How the AI Boom Threatens to Entrench Fossil Fuels and Compromise Climate Goals – Center for Biological Diversity releases report. Press release available here.
- Cloudy with a loss of Spending Control: How data centers are endangering state budgets – Good Jobs First report
- US data centers and your electricity bill: mapping the state-by-state impact – report
- How banning state regulation of AI harms workers – We Build Progress report
- How States are Approaching the Data Center Boom – We Build Progress report
- Amazon Data Center Linked to Cluster of Rare Cancers – study
- Increasing Student Losses: Cloudy Horizons as Data Centers and Developers Gain at Schools’ Expense – report
- $64 billion of data center projects have been blocked or delayed amid local opposition– Data Center Watch report
- Where Cloud meets Cement: a case study analysis of data center development – study
- The Military’s Use of AI, Explained – report
TOOLS + TOOLKITS:
- Four Pillars of Data Center Reform –The Piedmont Environmental Council Toolkit
- Data Center Site Fight Guide: A Shared Resource for Stopping Data Centers – The Data Center Working Group Guide
- Stop Data Centers Now Campaign – Food & Water Watch Toolkit
- 2026 Recommendations for Protecting Frontline Communities to Stop Dirty Data – NAACP Toolkit
- The People Say No: Resisting Data Centers in the South Report
- The People Say No: Resisting Data Centers –Toolkit
- What to ask when a data center wants to come to town: A guide for public officials and community members on the most important questions to ask, long before approval– Good Jobs First guide
DATABASES + INTERACTIVE MAPS:
- Data Center Map interactive map
- Oil, Gas, and Petrochemical – FracTracker Alliance databases
- Data Center Laws and Regulations – We Build Progress database
PETITIONS + OPEN LETTERS:
- Sign the Petition: No Data Center in East Charlotte
- Sign the Petition: Dirty Energy & Artificial Intelligence: Dirty Data: Stop Big AI from Polluting our Climate & Communities – Demand leading AI companies commit to 100% renewable energy sources. (Green America)
- Sign the Petition – No Data Centers in Matthews, NC!
- Sign the Petition – Don’t Sell Edgecombe County to Big Tech Polluter Interests!
- Sign the Petition – NO Data Center in Stokes County!
- Sign Open Letter to Congressional Candidates – Open Letter to NC-04 Congressional Candidates
VIDEO + AUDIO:
- How Satellite Imagery Tracks Data Center Growth & Land Use Impacts – Center for Progressive Reform + NCEJN Watch
- Understanding Data Centers and Their Environmental Impacts – NCEJN and Cassandra J. Rowe + charla rios – “Against The Machine” Art Exhibit, Julie Bolthouse (Piedmont Environmental Council (Virginia)) and Shaun and Will Ingram – the Richmond County Coalition for Justice and Black Empowerment (RCCJBE) Watch
- AI is transforming our world — but its growing energy use could worsen climate change – GreenAmerica Watch
- Meech Carter with the NC League of Conservation Voters on rising energy costs and data centers – NC Newsline Listen
- How Anthropic is behind more than a half million dollars in ads in a North Carolina district – More Perfect Union Watch
- Electric grid faces political roadblocks as it struggles with data center demand – PBS News Hour Watch
- I-Team digs into potential effects of data centers in the Triangle, nationwide: ‘A huge concern’ – ABC11 Watch
Hidden Costs of the Cloud: Data Centers in Virginia – Piedmont Environmental Council Watch
- Data Centers: Power Plays – But Who Pays? – Sierra Club Watch
- AI, data demand in North Carolina could strain water supply – WRAL Watch
- AI Expert: We Have 2 Years Before Everything Changes! We Need To Start Protesting! – The Diary Of A CEO Watch
- Data center expansion in NC and how people are reacting to it – WRAL Watch
- What is happening in Stokes County – Carolina Forward Video
- How Palantir powers surveillance – Perfect Union Watch
- How Data Centers Are Quietly Reshaping North Carolina – WRAL Watch
- The hidden costs of North Carolina’s data center boom: A surge of AI data centers is driving up power and water demand across North Carolina, increasing emissions and electricity costs for customers – WRAL Watch
