Although HumansFirst co-founder Amy Kremer compared it to the conservative Tea Party movement’s early days in 2009, she said the anger against data centers is nonpartisan.
“They just woke up one day and found out they're going to have this monstrosity in their community, and they don't want it,” said Kremer, who predicted data centers will be a defining issue in November’s midterm elections and the 2028 presidential race.
Kremer has criticized Republicans for giving Big Tech a “free pass,” but she and some organizers also said they do not support policies like moratoriums on data center approvals adopted by the Democratic state of New York. Among other things, organizers said they want the development process to be transparent, resources and environmental health protected, community benefits such as the creation of well-paid union jobs and a way to hold developers accountable if they do not follow through on promises.
Late on Friday, the Republican stronghold of Texas, a hotspot for data center development, was on track to have the most protests with 16. The battleground state of Georgia had 11, while Democratic California, Republican Florida and the swing state of Pennsylvania came in at 7 each.
First-time activist and self-described “political nomad” Eva Cardona, 31, is organizing a protest in Texas.
“I've been hearing about unregulated AI and the rapid growth was alarming me. I wanted to do something more hands-on than just your standard Facebook post,” Hickman said.
Left-leaning Ivan DelSol, 54, is helping lead a protest in the California desert's Imperial County, where a proposed data center project could use 260 million gallons of water per year from the Colorado River.
“It’s dystopian that you would use this much fresh water for AI,” DelSol said.
Although water is frequently cited as a top public concern, especially in water-stressed regions, the data center industry says its water use is not as significant as other industries.
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