Environmental groups call for halt to new data center construction

As energy demand for data centers soars , environmental groups are calling for a moratorium on the approval and construction of new facilities.

More than 230 organizations including Food and Water Watch, Friends of the Earth, and Greenpeace signed a public letter urging members of Congress to support a national moratorium on the approval and construction of new data centers, citing rising electricity and water consumption.

“The rapid, largely unregulated rise of data centers to fuel the AI and crypto frenzy is disrupting communities across the country and threatening Americans’ economic, environmental, climate and water security,” the letter reads.

Several studies have linked higher energy prices to the arrival of new data centers in a region. Consumers have been arriving at simi