Demand Progress

Meta is planning to build a $200 billion data center in Louisiana that will use as much energy as New York City.¹ A Utah county just approved a 40,000 acre data center project backed by billionaire Kevin O'Leary that will consume TWICE the amount of energy that the entire state currently uses.²

Big Tech billionaires and their giant, energy-sucking AI data centers will bring in hefty profits while posing grave risks to every aspect of our society.

There is widespread, local, bipartisan opposition to data centers because they will raise energy prices, threaten the electrical grid, suck up precious water resources, and severely damage the environment. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced legislation to block the construction of new data centers.³

Sign the petition: Ban new AI data Centers! Support Sanders and AOC's AI Data Center Moratorium Act.

Data centers suck up massive amounts of water and energy — and CNN reports that data centers are creating "heat islands," warming temperatures for millions of people by up to a whopping 16 degrees Fahrenheit.⁴ Electricity costs have gone up by 267% over the last five years in areas near data centers.⁵

A full 71% of Americans oppose building data centers in their communities.⁶

Residents are showing up to local government meetings to speak out against these greed-driven, dangerous data centers. Some communities are successfully stopping the massive corporate projects. But elsewhere billionaires are getting their way — as with Zuckerberg in Louisiana, and O'Leary in Utah.

There's still time to stop data centers. When he introduced the moratorium bill, Sen. Sanders said, "We cannot sit back and allow a handful of billionaire Big Tech oligarchs to make decisions that will reshape our economy, our democracy and the future of humanity."⁷ Congress must act now.

Sign the petition: No more AI data centers!

Sources:

1. Bloomberg, "Meta Goes Big on the Bayou," May 18, 2026.
2. Common Dreams, "'Shame! Shame! Shame!': Local Residents Furious After Shark Tank Billionaire's Data Center Approved in Utah," May 5, 2026.
3. Fortune, "Bernie Sanders and AOC launch bill to ban new data-center construction," March 25, 2026.
4. CNN, "Scientists have found an alarming environmental impact of vast data centers," March 30, 2026.
5. Bloomberg, "AI Data Centers Are Sending Power Bills Soaring," September 29, 2025.
6. Gallup, "Americans Oppose AI Data Centers in Their Area," May 13, 2026.
7. Office of Senator Bernie Sanders, "NEWS: Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez Announce AI Data Center Moratorium Act," March 25, 2026.