It has gotten much worse since then.
asserted
It → get → ?
Americans’ increasing aversion to new data centers borders on mass hysteria.
asserted
aversion → increase → hysteria
A recent Gallup survey found that Americans would rather have a nuclear power plant built near them than an AI data center — by over 20 percentage points!
asserted
plant → find → points
This animus toward new data centers, however, mostly rests on misinformation and social panic.
asserted
animus → rest → misinformation
Northern Virginia, long dubbed “Data Center Alley,” has had a significant number of data centers for decades, without any noticeable harm to standards of living, quality of life, or electricity and water availability.
asserted
Virginia → dub → life
Ironically, the demonization of new data center construction flies in the face of the fact that newer data centers are both more efficient and more valuable than older ones.
asserted
centers → fly → ones
Recommended Stories
But even Republicans such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who initially cheered AI data centers, are sounding a more cautious note.
asserted
who → cheer → note
If this caution removes tax and regulatory subsidies to data center builders, well and good!
asserted
caution → remove → builders
But if it means killing projects over bad “vibes” or adding needless red tape and bureaucratic approvals, we have moved from caution to paranoia.
asserted
we → mean → paranoia
Opposition to data centers tends to focus on three things: water, electricity, and noise.
asserted
Opposition → tend → things
People assume that adding a new data center near where they live will make their lives worse because it will be a nuisance, use up their water, and increase their electricity prices.
asserted
it → assume → prices
Newer AI facilities are undeniably massive — often spanning millions of square feet and drawing up to a gigawatt of power.
asserted
facilities → span → power
A single conventional hyperscale facility can consume between 1 million and 5 million gallons of water per day.
asserted
facility → consume → day
While that may sound like a lot, it isn’t much different from a golf course or a couple of acres of farm land.
uncertain
it → sound → land
Across the United States, direct data center water consumption totals an estimated 17 to 35 billion gallons annually.
asserted
consumption → total → gallons
By comparison, U.S. golf courses consume roughly 500 billion gallons per year, residential lawns use up to 3.3 trillion, and agriculture tops 40 trillion.
asserted
agriculture → consume → trillion
Furthermore, major operators such as Google, Meta, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft are rapidly adopting closed-loop liquid cooling systems that reduce on-site water usage.
asserted
that → adopt → usage
In drought-prone regions, the fundamental problem is not data centers but government agencies failing to use market prices to allocate water efficiently in accordance with supply and demand.
asserted
centers → fail → supply
People reasonably worry about high electricity prices.
asserted
People → worry → prices
But rising electricity prices precede the data center boom.
asserted
prices → rise → boom
They have been driven by a combination of green crusading — shutting down coal power plants prematurely, slowing or stopping the building of new power plants, and dramatic market distortions through wind and solar credits and subsidies.
asserted
They → drive → credits
Bureaucratic management of utility companies has also led to chronic underinvestment in new infrastructure and slower adoption of new technology.
asserted
management → lead → technology
If people want to see their electricity prices come down, they should push for regulatory and governance reform of utilities, not block data center development.
asserted
they → want → development
Standard industrial zoning frameworks have successfully managed noise generated by highways, airports, and factories for decades.
asserted
frameworks → manage → decades
If data center hum genuinely wrecked local quality of life, Loudoun County, Virginia — home to the world’s densest concentration of facilities — would not consistently rank among the wealthiest, highest-demand housing markets in the nation.
asserted
County → wreck → nation
Legitimate concerns exist when developers lobby local officials for tax abatements or free-ride on public grids.
asserted
developers → exist → grids
The solution is simple: Create and enforce clear, user-pays rules.
asserted
solution → create → rules
Rather than panicking, concerned citizens and policymakers should make sure developers fully fund their power, water, and necessary infrastructure upgrades — from substations to transmission lines.
asserted
developers → panic → lines
Like with any market transaction, both parties can benefit from the data center boom.
asserted
parties → benefit → boom
But blanket obstructionism ignores economic trade-offs and risks hamstringing American leadership in artificial intelligence.
asserted
obstructionism → ignore → intelligence
Instead of giving in to populist panic or doling out special corporate carve-outs, policymakers should let private capital build AI infrastructure without unnecessary red tape.
asserted
capital → give → tape
The Aporia
