Advocacy Group Calls for Moratorium on Hyper-Scale Data Center Construction Pending Regulatory Framework
By
Action Network
Summary
This article is a demand piece calling for an immediate moratorium on hyper-scale data center construction at all government levels until comprehensive regulatory frameworks are established. It argues that unchecked data center development poses significant risks to water resources (citing a Minnesota facility that could use 800 million gallons annually), energy systems (citing predictions of blackout increases and electricity cost spikes), environmental integrity (mining impacts on Indigenous lands), and community health (noise, light, and heat island effects). The piece advocates for transparency, community consent, and science-based standards before further development proceeds.
Source
bskyAdvocacy Group Calls for Moratorium on Hyper-Scale Data Center Construction Pending Regulatory Frameworkactionnetwork.orgKey quotes
· 5 pulledWe demand an immediate moratorium on the approval, permitting, and construction of hyper-scale data centers at the federal, state, and local levels which would remain in effect unless and until comprehensive, enforceable regulatory frameworks are established.
A large-scale data center proposed in Farmington, Minnesota, could use over 800 million gallons of water in just one year.
A Department of Energy report predicted that blackouts would increase 100-fold by 2030 due to the energy needed by hyper-scale data centers.
Morgan Stanley Research estimates that 97% of nickel, 89% of copper, 79% of lithium, and 68% of cobalt reserves and resources in the United States lie beneath or within 35 miles of Tribal lands.
CNN reported that areas near hyper-scale data centers are creating heat islands, warming up the land around them by as much as 16 degrees!
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