Data Centers are on the tip of everyone’s tongue. The AI Boom is taking the world by storm and the impact of data centers – especially when they are powered by dirty energy – is much more serious than the AI brainrot we scroll past on our phones!
People are learning more about dirty data center’s impacts on our climate, energy bills and pollution. We’re learning how they strain the electric grid and our water supplies. And we resent that decisions are being forced on communities without public involvement or transparency. From backroom deals that only benefit a few, to the damage done to surrounding communities, across the political spectrum, we the people are fed up with dirty data centers!
This Amazon AI Data Center in New Carlisle, Indiana, sits on 1,200 acres of land and is one of thousands of data centers in the U.S.
Bad News: The dirty energy connection
The rise of data centers is expanding costly dirty energy just when we desperately need to be phasing out dirty energy in favor of cheaper, cleaner renewables like wind and solar to slow the climate crisis.
- Dirty data centers are keeping dirty energy (oil, coal and gas) in business, which is worsening the climate crisis and overall air quality. According to recent reporting, these dirty data center projects are posed to increase power sector climate pollution by 20% and as much as a third!
- Companies are building huge dirty energy power plants as they rush to expand data centers, polluting our air and making us sick while they drive our bills up.
- Trump’s EPA has proposed to allow data centers and their power plants to start construction without getting air pollution permits and to cut out communities from previously required public input for these types of permits.
- Pollution from dirty data centers is a serious concern – Approximately four million people live within one mile of EPA-regulated data centers, exposing them to elevated levels of diesel exhaust and other pollutants.
- Pollutants emitted by data centers can travel hundreds of miles, raising air pollution concentrations even in communities far from the data centers themselves.
- Planned data centers were projected to drive $5.7 billion to $9.2 billion in annual public health costs from air pollution, cause 190,000 to 300,000 asthma symptom cases, and cause between 370 and 595 premature deaths each year.
- Data centers are driving up air temperatures in nearby communities, as much as 4 degrees Fahrenheit, which in turn drives up home cooling costs.
The Trump Administration is making things worse:
- Trump cut clean energy projects and it’s costing all of us – Dirty data center expansion is spiking energy demand as Trump and Republicans take clean energy projects off the grid, sending electricity prices through the roof. Household electricity costs have spiked by as much as 18% since Trump took office, with Americans facing $100 billion in enacted and proposed utility rate hikes.
- Families are hurting – One in six households is behind on utility bills, with total utility debt projected to reach $25 billion by the end of 2026. Since Trump took office, the national average overdue utility balance rose by more than 8%, to $817.
- Trump is helping Big Tech — at our expense!- In December 2025, the Trump administration established a data center team within the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation, aimed at helping companies skirt protections as part of the administration’s AI push. And Trump continues to publicly and vocally support data centers and smear opposition.
Good News: Nothing is inevitable!
There’s agreement across the political spectrum that we need to fix this! People from all walks of life oppose this and are speaking out. That means we have the power to make change happen.
Specific things to demand of your leaders
- Data centers need to be regulated and held accountable. Big Tech must bear the costs and consumers, communities and workers must benefit.
- Data centers must use affordable, cheaper, clean energy, and fund necessary improvements to our energy grid. They should help lower costs and deliver reliable power for everyone, not the inverse.
- Big Tech needs to pay their fair share- not just the bare minimum. We need guardrails to ensure they pay for the energy they use, and for upgrades to energy and water systems for their project and for the benefit of all users. And we need rules to ensure any data centers are transparent about their energy and water usage and meet high environmental and water standards.
- We need full transparency, not secret deals: if a tech company wants to build a data center in your community, you should be able to provide real input and have your concerns heard.
