There is a silent war going on across rural America.
Residents are attending local county meetings in incredible numbers and calling on their representatives to oppose huge data center projects, developments that could increase electricity prices, reduce water supplies and generate enormous amounts of noise.
Farmers are being hailed as heroes for turning down millions of dollars to turn their land into data centres, while claims the facilities will bring jobs to the area are met with incredulity and disappointment.
In short, AI backlash has grown significantly over the past year – and the latest data throws this trend into stark relief.
according to a New heatmap votingAt least seven out of ten Americans would oppose a data center being built near their home. That’s a seismic shift from last September, when a similar poll found only 42 percent of Americans were opposed.
By February, the same question resulted in only 51 percent saying they were against a data center project near their home, indicating that opposition had grown significantly in a very short period of time.
“The public has scored 49 points against data centers in just nine months, underscoring the growing political importance of facilities and the AI industry.” heatmap Mentioned in its writeup.
The widespread protests have turned into a rare bipartisan issue, with conservatives and liberals surprisingly uniting. According to the latest polling, 78 percent of Americans who said they voted for Kamala Harris in 2024 said she opposed a nearby data center project, while 63 percent of Americans said they voted for Donald Trump.
Young voters were particularly strong in their opposition, with 83 percent of Americans aged 18 to 34 saying they would oppose a data center near their home.
In short, this is perhaps one of the strongest signals yet that data centers could become an important and highly divisive topic during the upcoming midterm elections.
Meanwhile, many rural Americans are continuing their fight and struggling to make their voices heard. Case in point, a planned data center in the broader Salt Lake City area in Utah, backed by Canadian businessman and TV personality Kevin O’Leary, would take up land twice the size of Manhattan — while creating only 2,000 permanent jobs.
What’s worse, the region is already facing a water crisis, a serious environmental crisis that could be made worse by development.
Recently, Utah Senate President Stuart Adams heard these concerns – or perhaps he realized that building the project could cause considerable political blowback – and has Called on O’Leary to reduce data center campus by 75 percent.
However, the “Shark Tank” host and celebrity investor’s income has doubled. I am telling Salt Lake Tribune He’s “not going away.”
More information on data centers: Neighbors horrified by data center twice the size of Manhattan
