News Summary

A coalition of over 230 environmental groups, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and Food & Water Watch, is calling for a national moratorium on new data centers in the United States. This demand arises from concerns over the escalating electricity and water consumption attributed to these facilities, which are primarily built to support the demands of artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency technologies. The groups have urged Congress to address the issue, highlighting that data centers contribute to rising energy costs and environmental degradation. This movement has gained political traction, affecting recent elections in states like Virginia, New Jersey, and Georgia, where voters expressed concerns over increased utility bills linked to data centers. The data centers’ significant energy requirements are projected to triple over the next decade, potentially adding up to 44 million tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2030. The environmental groups argue that without regulation, the growth of data centers will exacerbate economic, environmental, and climate challenges in the US.