Washington, D.C. – Today President Trump issued an executive order that seeks to limit or erase the ability of states and local governments to enact regulations to protect against the numerous environmental, social, and economic harms of AI. The AI frenzy, which this executive order seeks to supercharge, is encouraging big tech companies to plan energy- and water-intensive data centers, already resulting in significant backlash from communities across the country.

In response, Food & Water Watch Managing Director of Policy and Litigation Mitch Jones made the following statement:

“Congress has repeatedly rejected attempts to undermine states’ and local communities’ efforts to protect themselves from the unchecked spread of AI, which is driving a wave of dangerous data center development. So Trump has taken it upon himself to do the bidding of the Silicon Valley oligarchs who fueled his political return. But let’s be clear: Trump’s order on its own cannot overrule state and local protections. And, communities can still act to stop new data centers from consuming their land, stealing their water, and driving up their electricity costs.

“We’ll be following the administration’s attempts to implement this farcical order, and we’ll fight it in Congress, in the states, in the courts, and with communities across this country.”

In a letter sent to Congress this week, more than 230 national, state and local organizations from across the country called for a full national moratorium on the approval and construction of new data centers. The letter cites massive and unsustainable consumption by data centers of energy and water resources, and skyrocking utility costs for families and small businesses.

Already, energy demand from data centers in the U.S. is expected to increase up to threefold between 2023 and 2028. Recent analysis from Food & Water Watch found that by 2028, AI-supporting data centers could consume:

• 720 billion gallons of water annually simply to cool the facilities — equal to more than 1 million Olympic-size swimming pools, or enough water to meet the indoor needs of 18.5 million American households.
• 300 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy annually — enough electricity to power over 28 million American households.