By Amy Clark
Guest Columnist
“The Data-Center Revolt Goes National: Tea Party Veteran Leads 142 Rallies Across 42 States” is the title of an online report by Tyler Durden, published by news source Zero Hedge July 18.
Organized by humansfirst.com, the nonprofit Tea Party veteran Amy Kremer co-founded, 142 protests across 42 states, from Wasilla, Ala.; to Naples, Fla., including Taos, Albuquerque, and Gallup, occurred July 18.
Texas, the country’s hottest data-center market, hosted the most rallies—18—with Georgia at 11, California at eight, and Pennsylvania, Florida, and Indiana at seven apiece.
Several local people, including myself, participated here in Gallup in the Nation Data Center Protest Day. I asked participants these questions: “Why are you publicly protesting data centers today? Do you know about Amy Kremer’s national organization for opponents of data centers, humansfirst.com? Why are you opposed to data centers and how do you feel about A.I.?”
Some people said they had never heard of humansfirst.com, but noticed a national data center protest day was announced on the internet. A few found the notice about this local event on their signal account. They were protesting because they believe we don’t need data centers. Also, data centers use too much energy and there is not enough water here. A local protester asked, “Will the new solar panel factory planned for Gallup just be a foot in the door for a data center to be built here?”
A participant in our data center protest who is a member of the Navajo Nation declared, “I care about our children’s future. I don’t want our grandchildren to have to fight for their basic needs like clean water. Water is precious. Data centers use a lot of water. The data center planned for Gallup is close to the Navajo Nation where we own livestock. We need clean water for our livestock. I don’t want our lives to have to change. We are submitting a resolution to the Navajo Nation administration to ban data centers, as well as, in a buffer zone around it.” They also noted, “If you use the internet, A.I. is inevitable. Although we don’t know how to manage it, it’s here to stay. We need to learn more about A.I. and the consequences of using it for humans and our environment. A.I. is not helpful and it can encourage deception.”
A June Reuters survey found only 14% of Americans would support a data center in their own community. Gallup polling found 71% oppose building an AI data center in their area—48% strongly. Morgan Stanley told clients in a July 14 note that support for local data-center bans runs strongest among Republican, higher-income, and urban voters.
I agree with Kremer. She demanded, “Each community should choose what gets built inside it. Too many of those choices are made behind closed doors.”
Durden reported ,“New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed an executive order imposing the nation’s first statewide moratorium on new hyper-scale data centers—an immediate pause of up to a year on state environmental permits for projects of 50 megawatts or more while regulators draft standards covering energy demand, water use, and air quality. Virginia’s new tax on data-center electricity—1.1 cents per kilowatt-hour—took effect July 1. Arizona’s governor signed a three-year moratorium on new data-center tax breaks in June,” he added.
What is behind all these data center protests in which both left and right leaning voters participate?
What data center developers bring to especially minority communities challenged by rising energy costs and aging clean water facilities, is not the bonanza they promise. Excessive noise and air pollution from natural gas generators become an unexpected health hazard after they are built.
Gallup area residents need to wise up. A.I. is another “gold rush” and the data centers it requires are parasites whose developers seek to make money taking advantage of our ignorance.
A.I. is pernicious. Already able to hack each other, A.I. systems developed by different corporations are turning on each other—because they can. It has been reported that A.I. has invaded the internet. Now even the savviest internet engineer cannot tell the difference between an A.I. generated internet search and one that originates from an actual living, breathing human being.
Do we need this?
