Billionaire tech bosses are facing opposition to unchecked data centers associated with job-killing artificial intelligence (AI) operations. Workers and oppressed people throughout the U.S. are pushing back against the development of data centers in their communities. Data centers are secured buildings each with multiple servers that store and process data and transmit data across the internet.
Recent studies show that most people in the U.S. have an unfavorable view of data centers. A new Gallup survey just revealed that 70% of the U.S. population oppose data centers near their homes, which is a massive jump from only 47% in late 2025. (tomshardware.com, May 14) Another study from the Marquette University Law School shows that 62% of the U.S. population “believes the cost of data centers outweighs the benefits.” (Washington Post, April 15)
Working people oppose job-killing AI and big tech pollution
Workers object to the growth of data centers for a variety of reasons. There is growing concern about impacts on the environment, utility costs, water consumption and climate change. Many people fear they will pay the price for something that will only materially benefit capitalist investors.
New data centers for AI use more energy and water than ones presently operating. Currently, 90% of existing data centers use less than 50 megawatts, whereas the new AI data centers require massive complexes that would use 1,000 to 4,000 megawatts (1-to-4 gigawatts) of electricity. (4.5 gigawatts can supply Utah with a year’s electricity.)
Data centers cause noise pollution in addition to dirtying the water and air. Recent facilities reportedly emit various loud sounds that can be heard miles away, caused by the humming of cooling systems. Noise and light pollution can interfere with people’s ability to sleep.
AI data centers require as much as one to five million gallons of water per day for cooling. This usage raises concern about the water supply in places where clean water is scarce. Scientific reports also indicate that data centers create “heat islands” on the ground, warming the land around them by up to 16 degrees Fahrenheit. This affects farming and can diminish agricultural output.
Data centers are not providing new jobs in the local community, despite what some proponents claim. Most of the jobs data centers provide are temporary positions that last only during construction of the facility.
AI-driven data centers give the Trump administration an excuse to promote the formation of new, expensive methane gas plants. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas causing climate change.
Developers in Homer City, Pennsylvania, are hoping to build a 4.5 gigawatt (GW) facility to serve data centers, which would make it the largest methane gas plant in the country. Meta recently built a data center in Louisiana that was first proposed to be powered by three methane gas power plants producing 2 GW of electricity but has now been expanded to 10 plants. (techcrunch.com, April 1)
Workers worry about increased utility rates. AI-driven tech companies often use non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and confidential contracts to hide information about contracts and rates from the public. Last year, the West Virginia legislature (controlled by ultra-right politicians) passed the “Power Generation and Consumption Act” (HB 2014), which gives data centers independent authority and removes local government autonomy and oversight.
Data center developers are targeting Indigenous lands specifically. Oglala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne activist Krystal Two Bulls, the executive director of Honor the Earth, an Indigenous-led eco-justice organization, describes data centers as a “modern-day iteration” of “settler colonialism.” This description is in reference to noise pollution, cancers and respiratory illnesses, water depletion, energy grid overload and “ecological collapse.” (Democracy Now!, April 22)
Workers mobilize fightbacks against capitalist data centers
Residents in rural Utah recently organized against a proposal for one of the largest data centers in the world known as the “Stratos Project.” On May 4, Box Elder County commissioners voted to approve the development of a 40,000-acre hyperscale complex that is expected to consume 9 GW of power. The energy consumption is projected to be double the current rate of the entire state of Utah, and the campus size itself is almost as big as the entire city of Toledo, Ohio. “Stratos Project” is being promoted by MAGA supporter and “Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary.
Protest of AI center in Tremonton, Utah, May 4, 2026.
Box Elder County commissioners were confronted by angry community members who shouted, “Shame! Shame!” and “People over profit!” Reports indicate three of the county commissioners collected their things and quickly made their way toward the exit as the police moved toward the crowd. (peoplesdispatch.org, May 9) The next day, several Box Elder voters applied to add a referendum to the local ballot to overturn the county commission’s vote and disapprove the project.
Workers have been successful in imposing temporary moratoriums on some locations. Voters in Port Washington, Wisconsin, approved a referendum requiring voter approval for future tax incentives for data centers. This was in response to a major Microsoft-linked project. Township officials in Saline, Michigan, were forced to reject a rezoning request for a massive Oracle AI data center in December 2025.
Virginia is considered the “data center hub” of the world. There are tax incentives for AI developers, and it currently operates over 600 data facilities. At the same time, Virginia residents have organized throughout the state and have put a halt on various operations. Workers in West Virginia are also fighting back against data centers despite hostile legislation.
Socialism is the only solution
Data centers are unsustainable under capitalism, because the latter is a system driven by profit. Karl Marx described the unplanned nature of capitalist market economies as an “anarchy of production.” The exorbitant energy consumption that is required to run each individual data facility in the U.S. epitomizes that description.
Socialist economies, on the other hand, plan production to meet human needs as opposed to expanding and maximizing profits. As a socialist country with central planning, China can operate data centers that are more energy efficient and environmentally friendly than any country in the capitalist West.
China recently completed the construction of the world’s first underwater data centers (UDCs) off the coasts of Hainan and Shanghai. The process helps with both cooling and energy costs. More than 95% of UDCs electricity will come from offshore wind turbines, making them the most ecologically sound of such projects. UDCs designers estimate that wind power will reduce energy consumption by 22.8%. Built under water, the usage of land is estimated to be reduced by more than 90%. (wired.com, Oct 28, 2025)
There is less apprehension about UDCs, because they are designed to use less energy. Only a socialist system can guarantee technology that does not hurt the environment or harm humanity. People’s China once again leads the way in providing services that meet the needs of the proletariat, while the capitalist U.S. in contrast displaces working families with poisonous data centers.
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