Last Tuesday, there was a large turnout at a Bow Selectmen meeting, preceded by a rally with residents from Bow and nearby towns that will be affected by the pollution of air, water and noise from a possible AI data center, particularly one fast-tracked without input from stakeholders.
I am a longtime resident of Bow with a background as an environmental science educator and advocate for climate justice. I was one of many who raised major concerns about the environmental and health risks of data centers and requested a moratorium on these data centers until these problems are addressed. I was part of the long struggle to close down the dangerous coal-fired power plant, and had hoped with many others that the site would be used to support affordable renewable energy.
I am a co-leader of the Concord Chapter of Climate Hope Affiliates, a faith-based advocacy group for climate justice, and several of our chapters across the country have been successful in advocating for members of Congress to support bipartisan legislation to examine and regulate AI data centers.
Data centers consume enormous amounts of energy and water at a financial and environmental cost borne by residents. The United States has more than 3,000 data centers. Of particular concern are “hyperscale” data centers that demand at least 50 MW of power — enough electricity for a small city. Sixty-eight hyperscale facilities operate today, and 267 more are planned. Nationwide, communities are protesting existing and proposed data centers. A local ban might protect one community from data center pollution, but it cannot protect all communities across the country. Two bills before Congress offer a national response.
Reps. Rob Menendez (D-NJ) and Greg Casar (D-TX) have introduced the Preventing Rate Inflation in Consumer Energy (PRICE) Act (HR 6983) and the Data Center Transparency Act (HR 6984). The PRICE Act would require large data centers to generate the electricity they consume and transition to 100% clean energy by 2040. The Data Center Transparency Act would require federal agencies to report regularly on data centers’ air pollution, water use, energy consumption and effects on household utility bills.
Our representatives in Congress should cosponsor these bills if they have not already done so, or explain what other action they will take to protect our communities and state. Our senators should introduce companion legislation.
The PRICE Act applies to data centers with a power demand of at least 50 MW. It provides a timetable for transitioning to clean energy. A data center’s energy would need to be 75% clean by 2035 and 100% clean by 2040. Failure to comply would result in a civil penalty that could be as high as $100,000 per day until the requirement is met.
To establish a more comprehensive approach, the Data Center Transparency Act would make the broader environmental and consumer impacts of data centers transparent to the public. It would require the EPA to collect data every three months on impacts related to water, local utilities, greenhouse gas emissions and the cumulative impact of emissions on overburdened communities. It would additionally require the Energy Information Administration to collect data every six months on both a data center’s energy consumption and any impacts on household energy bills.
With more and more massive data centers being built, the question is where they will land. Local bans and moratoriums are effective, but we need a unified movement across the United States to protect all of us and the environment.
Climate Hope Affiliates is highlighting one particularly egregious data center in Memphis. Local chapters are hosting community discussions and postcard-writing parties in towns and cities across the U.S. Attendees watch a 17-minute video about a predominantly Black community in Memphis that has been struggling to address the pollution from an XAI data center that, at the time of filming, was the world’s largest supercomputer.
The video illustrates a familiar pattern of environmental injustice: a powerful corporation adds pollution to an already overburdened, predominantly Black community, while the concerns of residents are discounted and environmental protection laws are blatantly disregarded.
A number of solutions are needed, but for starters, no one should have to live near the gas turbines or diesel generators that help power some data centers. The fossil fuels that generate the energy cause air and water pollution which causes a myriad of heart and lung problems as well as problems for the animal life in the water. The low-frequency noise pollution sounds like jet engines 24/7, causing ringing of the ears, tinnitus and stress, which causes heart problems. No one should have those in their backyard.
This is why the two bills are currently being championed by Climate Hope Affiliates and Creation Justice Ministries, an ecumenical organization that brings more than 35 different denominations together in common cause for environmental stewardship.
The Rev. Dr. Brooks Berndt, who directs Climate Hope Affiliates and serves as the Environmental Justice Minister, explains this broad approach by saying, “Ultimately, the key to bringing about the needed solutions is for members of communities across the country to come together to build a bigger ‘we,’ so that when we say not in ‘our’ backyard, we mean everyone’s backyard.” Several New England Conferences have resolutions about a moratorium on data centers.
Please urge all four of our Congresspeople and Senators to support these two important bills. We are taking care of business in our back yard, but the urgent need to address AI data centers is a nationwide issue that demands our action. It’s a matter of money versus morals, greed versus health.
Sue Moore, from Bow, is co-Leader of the Concord Climate Hope Affiliates with an MS in Environmental Health Science, a Teacher/Naturalist with Audubon and an environment/climate activist.