A Political Battle Is Brewing Over Data Centers

They said, “I think this is the right policy, taking a national value for us,” they said.

Although the intention of the AI ​​stagnation cannot control the physical infrastructure, Massi’s response depicts how much hot-button data centers are becoming across the country.

The rapid increase in the number of data centers across the United States has increased against local pushback against them. Projects bring tax dollars, they often use a lot of electricity and water. A recent blombergenef Analysis The Virginia Data Center seems to be triple of AI’s electricity in the United States by 2035 Use currently Electricity as 60 percent of the state family.

A recent Report From the Data Center Watch, a project conducted by Labs in AI Intelligence Agency has shown that local opponents of data centers have been blocked or delayed in many places across the country for the past two years, the data center Watch 24 is counting more than 140 workers groups. The report states that Pushback against the construction of the Data Center is “Bilateral”, both Republicans and Democratic politicians, both made public statements against data centers in their districts.

According to the report, “Server firms have become a new goal against greater development,” the report noted that “from noise and water use to the use of electricity and property.” “The local resistance landscape is moving – and the data centers are in the square in the crushears”

In Virginia, the data centers have already re -size the lines of political war: in Prince William County in 2023, Chairs of county supervisors Following the opposition to the community of a new data center complex was ousted in 2023. Data center Played In a recent debate for Republican Primary for the 21st State House District of Virginia, examiners have focused on tax rates and zoning issues for data centers.

The Republican who wins the initials later this month will face a Democrat Josh Thomas in the election of November in November. Thomas says that since taking office in 2022, the data centers have become a front-center issue.

“I wanted to run the family to live and help women to maintain their reproductive rights, but it has been seen that the data centers ended as the local issue number one,” she said. Since the adoption of the Thomas office, the data center has filed several legislatives around the growth; One passed with bilateral support this spring but it was Veto Governor Glenn Yankin writes.

The AI ​​of The Megabil, Sources Wired, have led the California Republican Representative J Oberolt House Energy and Commerce Committee. Obernolt worked by 2021 to form a policy recommendation to the Bilateral House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, which can sponsor AI’s growth at the federal level. When the group’s final Report State-level data centers did not specifically mentioned, it recognized the “Challenges” of AI’s high strength “challenges” and recommended “AI Data Center using the power to track and project” vicinity. “

In March, Obernolt describes the Task Force’s reports as a “future checklist” Event The right -wing Think Tank has been hosted by the Kato Institute in March. Obernolt, who said in the event that he agreed with White House consultants with sacks in the AI ​​policy, said that the states were “acting on their own” in the legalization of AI models – adding that AI was as soon as possible for the Congress to start control as soon as possible.

“We need to clean it to our states,” said Obernolt. ” “We need to do it at once.”

It is not clear whether the suspension will survive in the Senate. Friday, Punchbol News Report That senator Josh Howley, a Missouri Republicans, will work to remove the AI ​​suspension from the final bill text with the Democrats.

Contributed to Jack Lahut Reporting.