More than 160 groups urge Congress to keep AI data centers off federal lands

WASHINGTON — More than 160 environmental, health, consumer and religious groups are urging Congress to bar artificial intelligence data centers from federal lands and to reject a permitting overhaul bill that may soon come before the Senate, according to a letter organized by Food & Water Watch.

The letter, sent Nov. 5, backs H.R. 9939, the No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act, sponsored by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. It calls on lawmakers to reject the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act, which supporters promote as a long-sought fix for the nation’s permitting process, the group said.

Signers include the Center for Biological Diversity, GreenLatinos, the Indigenous Environmental Network, Oil Change International, Our Revolution, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Science and Environmental Health Network and Third Act, according to Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit that advocates on food, water and climate issues.

The coalition argued that data centers can drive heavy energy demand, require new grid infrastructure, raise costs for the public and add air and water pollution beyond the land they occupy.

“Public lands belong to all of us, yet the so-called permitting reform bill would open them to massive AI data centers,” said Jim Walsh, policy director at Food & Water Watch. He said the industry is turning to public lands as a way around growing local opposition.

Tlaib pointed to this week’s elections. “Nearly every data center moratorium on the ballot this week passed as our communities reject this assault on our quality of life,” she said.

Andrea Marpillero-Colomina, a policy advisor at GreenLatinos, said more than 24,000 acres of public land are under consideration for data centers, along with hundreds of miles of new gas pipelines to power them. “We urge Congress to pass H.R. 9939, and remember that public lands are a public trust,” she said.

The rapid growth of power-hungry AI data centers has become a growing issue for utilities and electricity customers nationwide.

This report is based on information from Food & Water Watch.

Source: Food & Water Watch