500+ Groups from 47 States Call for Nationwide AI Data Center Moratorium
In a letter sent to Congress, more than 520 organizations from 48 states called for the enactment of a full nationwide moratorium on the approval and construction of new hyperscale data centers. Additionally, a new national coalition is launching today with the aim of supporting the grassroots drive for a halt to AI- and crypto-driven data center buildout at the local, state and federal levels. The coalition will work to share resources and opportunities for action against new data center construction, including leveraging resources and membership from national groups for state and local campaigns across the country.
“We are being told that AI-Data Centers are inevitable – that communities must sacrifice their water, land, and health, and their economic future for Big Tech’s greed. But the spread of local moratoriums nationwide proves otherwise; in North Carolina alone, we have 20 and counting. We join others across this country in saying no to extractive industries, no to polluting our lands and treating communities as disposable, and no to ever-expanding corporate subsidies. Instead, we say yes to building community-centric, enforceable regulations grounded in an environmental justice framework that protects us all, yes to economic support for small business, and yes to building a democracy where our voices impact decisions. Data centers are not inevitable—people power is,” said Rania Masri, Co-Director, North Carolina Environmental Justice Network.
