Erin Brockovich veröffentlicht eine Karte von über 4.200 Rechenzentren in den USA und appelliert an die örtlichen Gemeinden, Umweltauswirkungen und andere Kosten zu melden

Excerpts from article by Newsweek’s Joe Edwards and Kate Plummer:

*[…] The website, brockovichdatacenter.com, lists several “key concerns” surrounding such data centers, including high energy consumption that drives environmental impacts and costs, substantial water use for cooling that can strain local supplies, increased e‑waste from frequent hardware upgrades, exposure to location risks such as natural disasters or geopolitical instability, growing scalability pressures that can outpace local infrastructure, and constant noise from cooling systems and generators that can disrupt nearby communities.*

*“These challenges highlight the need for sustainable, secure, and efficient AI data center practices,” the website says. „Self-reporting is the best way we can get this information out to the public!”*

*There are now more than 4,200 data centers—built to train, deploy and deliver AI—across the U.S., according to Data Center Map.
According to the website’s statistics, more than 2,716 reports have been submitted, with the most in Texas (612), as of Monday. The state is home to more than 460 data centers, according to Data Center Map.*

*The greatest concern among communities was water, followed by electricity, health and wildlife.*

*“The race to build AI infrastructures is unfolding town by town across America. In some places, data centers are welcomed. In others, they are delayed, contested or abandoned altogether. This map captures the real-world footprint of that race—revealing patterns of growth, conflict and uncertainty,” Brockovich said.*

Also from the article:

*[…] Why companies are choosing [Virginia, Texas, Ohio, Arizona, Georgia, and Utah]:*

*Cheap land: Large-scale AI data centers require vast footprints; these states offer space at significantly lower costs than coastal markets.*

*Power access: Reliable, high-capacity energy grids, often with options for renewable sourcing, are critical for AI workloads.*

*Tax breaks: State and local governments are competing aggressively with incentives to attract long-term infrastructure investment.*

*Fewer regulations: Streamlined permitting and business-friendly policies enable shorter development timelines and reduced compliance burdens.*

It’s the classic corporate playbook: privatize the massive profits of AI while socializing the infrastructure and resource costs onto local taxpayers. Tech companies build these multi-billion dollar complexes, secure massive state-level tax incentives that drain local public coffers, and then demand millions of gallons of public drinking water to cool their chips. If AI is as immensely profitable as Silicon Valley claims it is, they should be paying a premium tax rate to the communities they are occupying, rather than relying on residents to blow the whistle on the local damage.

Won’t someone PLEASE think of the billionaires‘ profits?

Now bump those up against Ice Detention Centers.

Anyone who has worked in a data center knows there’s barely any employees there. A few security guards, and minimal staff.

The only money is for corporate owners and those who receive local political donations. 

There’s no huge growth in employment or tax revenue, just a drain on local energy and water sources. The tax breaks do not pay for themselves, and only make energy prices more expensive for local residents.

[https://brockovichdatacenter.com/](https://brockovichdatacenter.com/)

Love Julia Roberts… I’m kidding sorry 

The website with the map looks like it was built with AI.

The 4200 number seems pretty questionable.  The breakdown on the site only lists 33 operational data centers and 2716 community reported ones.  It’s not clear if the community reported ones are verified or if they’re even actually data centers related to AI.  It’s not at all clear where the number reported by Newsweek comes from.

Nice of them to make the Utah one actual size

I think data centers have unintentionally become a surrogate target where people can channel built-up frustrations over a myriad of collective grievances accumulated over time. They’re nowhere near the biggest problem we face; they wouldn’t even make my top 100. But when the root causes feel too massive or abstract to confront, people end up focusing on something closer and more tangible to direct their opposition to.

Stay strong, New England!!

There’s no way we need all this space this is just got to be investor capital out ahead of presumed demand

Utah needs some serious help. Not only does cox and lee want to sell off BLM land (by filing a lawsuit to turn control of public lands over to the state, allowing them to sell it), but they are unanimously supportive of more data centers going up. Citizens have had enough, but it looks like its a little too late.

We are in a constant state of drought and our political leaders time and time again favor industry over environment.

Every time I see her name, my brain goes „oh yeah she was real.“ followed by, „**is** real, she’s still alive.“ Every time.