Washington, D.C. – Today the national environmental group Food & Water Watch released a comprehensive, first-of-its-kind report that makes a compelling, urgent case for a nationwide moratorium on the construction of new AI-driven data centers. The report comes as President Trump today hosts a White House “signing ceremony” with seven Big Tech companies that are supposedly pledging to take measures to lower the impact of their massive AI energy demand on everyday Americans.

The deeply researched report lays out the wide range of harms and hazards associated with the sudden explosion of the data center industry in America, including: 

• Enormous and unsustainable consumption of power and water resources, already resulting in skyrocketing utility bills for families and small businesses.
• Dangerous new demand for fossil fuels, posing heightened risks of air and water pollution for impacted communities and a grave threat to our global climate.
• A host of other societal threats, from national economic catastrophe, to loss of critical farmland, to unrelenting noise pollution, to threats to children and democracy.

The report, The Urgent Case Against Data Centers, methodically outlines the need for a moratorium on new data center construction nationwide, so that local, state and federal leaders can take the time needed to thoroughly and adequately evaluate these and other inherent harms and threats from this aggressive, profit-driven industry. Its release coincides with a growing national awakening on this issue, including the recent introduction of bills in about a dozen state legislatures to enact statewide moratoria on new data centers.

“As this report clearly shows, we need a halt to the explosive growth of new data center construction now, because political and community leaders across the country have been caught completely off guard by this aggressive, profit-hungry industry. It has yet to be determined if – not how – the industry can ever operate in a manner that sufficiently protects people and society from the profusion of inherent hazards and harms that data centers bring wherever they appear,” said Wenonah Hauter, founder and executive director of Food & Water Watch.

Referring to today’s event at the White House, Ms. Hauter added, “One thing we can be certain of is that Big Tech won’t do anything to help anyone other than Big Tech. Today’s actions from the White House are hollow platitudes to everyday Americans, nothing more.”

Last October, Food & Water Watch became the first national organization in the country to call for a full nationwide moratorium on the approval and construction of new data centers. In a letter to Congress in December, more than 230 national, state and local organizations from across the country echoed this call. Meanwhile, Food & Water Watch has been active in fighting numerous proposals in many states, including California, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.