By Christina Park | Just the News
Facing NIMBY: Industry experts and lawmakers are pushing back against “disinformation” about data centers, arguing that they are vital for American jobs and technological leadership.
State lawmakers and big tech are pushing back against misinformation surrounding data centers. Once welcomed for their local economic benefits, they say these facilities now face resistance due to fear and disinformation over water and electricity consumption, complicated by a global AI race against China.
“What I want to do, and what President Trump wants to do is make sure we dominate the next revolution in technology, which is of course, AI and data centers,” economist Stephen Moore told the Just the News, No Noise show at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)’s annual meeting in Florida.
“Look, AI is coming. Data centers are already here,” Moore said, as he said that there were already hundreds of existing data centers throughout the country for digital services, not just for AI. According to the Data Center Map (DCM) there are currently 4,677 data centers in the U.S. DCM is used by buyers and sellers of data center services, investors, analysts, real estate professionals, construction companies, public authorities and other decision makers in the industry, as both a research and procurement tool.
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Moore, a former member of The Wall Street Journal editorial board and who worked at The Heritage Foundation from 1983 to 1987 and again since 2014, said that while technology companies have been aggressive about building data centers where they were unwanted, causing legitimate concerns, it was still crucial to continue building the facilities, calling them “the nerve center for the future.”
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