Map Shows Where Data Centers Are Being Banned
Summary
Many U.S. states and local areas are considering or have placed limits on building new data centers because these facilities use a lot of electricity and water. While some officials want to slow construction to study environmental effects, the Trump administration sees data centers as important for competing with China in artificial intelligence (AI).Key Facts
- At least 14 states are thinking about bans or temporary stops on new data centers.
- Some cities, like Monterey Park, California, have already banned new data centers.
- Data centers need large amounts of electricity and water to operate.
- More than 3,000 data centers already exist in the U.S., with over 1,500 more being built.
- Most current data centers are in cities, but new centers are often planned for rural areas, especially in the South and Midwest.
- Virginia and Texas have the most operating data centers in the U.S.
- Several new data centers are planned near the Ogallala Aquifer, an important groundwater source that recharges very slowly.
- Losing water from this aquifer could take hundreds or thousands of years to recover, posing risks to agriculture and local water supplies.
Read the Full Article
This is a fact-based summary from The Actual News. Click below to read the complete story directly from the original source.