- Opposition to data centers continues to grow in the United States
- Gallup Poll Finds People Would Rather Have a Nuclear Power Plant in Their Area Than a Data Center
- Environmental concerns, noise pollution and additional costs are all cited as major concerns
The majority of Americans would oppose the construction of new data centers in their region, and many would even prefer new nuclear facilities, new data shows.
A Gallup poll found that more than seven in 10 Americans (71%) oppose building AI data centers near them, and nearly half (48%) are strongly opposed — significantly higher than the share (53%) who said they would oppose building a nuclear power plant in their area.
Only 20% say they are in favor of such projects, and only 7% are strongly in favor.
Opposition to data centers grows
The findings, the first time Gallup has surveyed opinion in this area, come amid opposition to the surge in new data centers in the United States, with concerns about noise, health problems and environmental damage continuing to grow.
These concerns are reflected in the survey results, with 70% of respondents saying they are concerned to some extent about the impact data centers could have on the local environment.
Of these, 50% highlighted excessive use of resources, 18% mentioned both high water and energy consumption, a similar percentage (16%) mentioned noise pollution and air and water pollution, and others said they would prefer land to be used for other purposes.
Other opposition included the impact on local quality of life, particularly increased population and traffic, as well as potentially negative economic consequences such as higher utility bills, an increased cost of living, and the potential use of taxpayer funds to build the centers.
Those in favor of new data centers cited potential benefits to the local economy, job creation and increased tax revenue.
Concerns were also fairly consistent across all major demographic groups and across the political spectrum, but Republican voters were slightly more likely to favor them than Democrats.
“For the use of AI to grow in the United States, it will be necessary to build data centers capable of handling the necessary computing power,” Gallup noted in its article.
“But most Americans seem to take a ‘not in my backyard’ attitude about building additional data centers, and that attitude is particularly intense, given that nearly half strongly oppose such construction.”
“Overcoming this opposition poses a major obstacle to the expansion of computational AI. The intensity of the opposition means that the proposed data centers are likely to spur grassroots activism by local residents as well as legal challenges. It also indicates that AI infrastructure could become an important campaign issue in this year’s local and national elections, and politicians who favor data centers in their area are likely taking a politically risky stance.”
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