Data centers face a political reckoning as opposition surges, POLITICO Poll shows
Polling shows a growing political reckoning is coming for data centers
A new POLITICO Poll reveals that American attitudes toward data centers have soured dramatically and become more politically polarized in just six months. Opposition to nearby data centers now outpaces support, with 41% of Americans opposing construction within three miles, up from 28% in January. The shift is especially pronounced among Democrats and Harris voters, signaling trouble for the AI industry and both parties ahead of the midterms.
It’s rare to see political attitudes change this fast in an era where they are often quite static and partisan.
- tzs
Part of the problem is xAI. I bet the first reaction of many people when they hear someone wants to build a data center in their area is "Oh no...they want to do to us what they did to those people in Tennessee!" [1].
They built it in a poor, 90-95% Black, area that already had air quality problems leading to high rates of asthma and respiratory illness, and then decided they could not wait for the power company to upgrade infrastructure for them so they powered it with dozens of unpermitted gas turbines that lacked pollution controls, massively increasing the air quality problems and health problems there. (They are building their own gas power plant which will have permits and satisfy state environmental regulations but still will emit a lot of pollution which will continue to be a big problem for the residents).
Another part of the problem is that even projects that seem to be a good deal push so hard for fast approval it makes people suspicious.
Consider Project Jupiter, a massive (1400 acre mega data center) project in a poor area of New Mexico. From the NPR story I heard about this one it seems it might actually be a good deal for the area.
The public knew for months it was being planned but the details (400 pages of complex contract details and tax documents with many things still blank) were only released to the public 4 days before the County Board of Commissioners voted on it (4-1 in favor).
The public was not happy with that timeline.
- mapping365
The new poll found that 41 percent of Americans would oppose a data center being built within three miles of where they live, up from 28 percent in the January survey. The number supporting those projects dropped during the same period, from 37 percent to 24 percent.
The shift was especially pronounced among people who said they had voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race.
The results reflect the scope of the challenge facing the industry and its supporters as the rapid buildout of data centers brings the issue home to voters ahead of the November midterms. More than 200 data centers are going up in dozens of competitive House districts, a recent POLITICO analysis found.
“It’s rare to see political attitudes change this fast in an era where they are often quite static and partisan,” said Seb Wride, head of polling at Public First.
- pfdietz
Are folks still thinking orbital data centers are an impossibility? Because this is a strong part of the motivation for those.
- andsoitis
What’s the situation in China?
Are people there also opposed to data centers?
- JohnHaugeland
it seems to me like we care about absolutely anything other than the one really important thing right now