Data Centers Raise Concerns in the U.S.

Recently, concerns regarding artificial intelligence and its data centers have increased in the U.S. These data centers house networking equipment and servers that store and process data to fuel AI, according to the World Resources Institute.

Building and operating them requires a large amount of energy, land and water. Additionally, the cost of electricity and land in the areas where data centers are built is increasing and making it less affordable for the small businesses that are in those areas.

Critics say noise and light pollution from data centers creates a disturbance in the communities that surround them.

According to “NPR,” a recent poll demonstrated that “about two-thirds of Americans oppose new data center construction in their communities,” and over half of those voters found data centers “totally negative.” Americans are concerned about the environmental impacts and communal disruptions that are occurring in areas all over the country.

Upper school ceramics teacher Monica Campbell has a cabin in Canaan Valley, West Virginia. She explained that this area is a “mecca for arts and outdoor activties,” but recently the communit has faced the threat of construction of a data center with a power plant.

She explained, “The town is divided between left-wing and right-wing folks, but people came together to fight against the power plant.” Campbell hopes the power plant will not disturb the “lovely, little mountain town.”