The proposed legislation would be the first of its kind passed in the country, but there are similar bills popping up everywhere this year.
Maine House advances data center moratorium • Maine Morning Star
The Maine House of Representatives has given initial approval to a bill that would ban most data centers until November 2027. The bill, LD 307, places a moratorium on data centers with a load of 20 megawatts or more. House lawmakers passed the bill by a vote of 82-62 Monday, advancing it to the Senate. […]
What Happens When Data Centers Come to Town?
The rapid growth of data centers, with their enormous energy and water demands, necessitates targeted policy interventions to mitigate environmental impacts and protect local communities. To address these issues, states with existing data center tax breaks should adopt sustainable growth policies for data centers, mandating energy audits, strict performance standards, and renewable energy integration, while also requiring transparency in energy usage reporting. “Renewable energy additionality” clauses should ensure data centers contribute to new renewable capacity rather than relying on existing resources.
Stop the AI Build-Out, Start the Fight
Across the country, working-class communities are rising up against Big Tech’s data center boom. A moratorium isn’t the end goal — it’s the only leverage we have to force real democratic control over artificial intelligence.
‘The Most Bipartisan Issue Since Beer’: Opposition to Data Centers
Americans have soured on data centers, polls show, and the sentiment is profoundly bipartisan. How will that change our politics?
The secretive plan for a Maine data center collapsed in 6 days
A proposed data center in an old Lewiston mill building began to unravel before the public even got wind of it.
It’s Back. Congress Gears Up for Year-End Fight Over Moratorium on AI Laws. | TechPolicy.Press
A proposed federal moratorium on enforcement of state AI laws failed last summer, but lawmakers have resurrected the idea, writes Cristiano Lima-Strong.
People Hate Datacenters, Survey Finds
The data drops as Sen. Bernie Sanders calls for a moratorium on datacenter construction. 'We need to take a deep breath. We need to make sure that AI and robotics work for all of us, not just a handful of billionaires.'
Texans Are Fighting a 6,000 Acre Nuclear-Powered Datacenter
"They're being told that this is inevitable," a member of the 806 Data Center Resistance told 404 Media. "But Texas is this other beast."
As tech companies race to build data centers, more communities are pushing back
Concerns about electricity bills and local impacts are fueling bipartisan opposition to the massive data centers that power the digital economy, from cloud services to AI chatbots. In Wisconsin, as in other states, the tussles are personal – and fraught.
Lawful-access bill could threaten encryption, deter investment, Chamber of Commerce warns
Bill would require telecoms, internet companies to change systems to give surveillance, monitoring capabilities to authorities
Is the Left Making a ‘Massive Strategic Blunder’ on Data Centers?
A conversation with Holly Jean Buck, author of a buzzy story about Bernie Sanders’ proposal for a national data center moratorium.
The Fight Against Google’s Minnesota Data Centers - UNICORN RIOT
Minnesota residents are organizing against proposed hyperscale data centers, especially Google-linked projects in Pine Island and Hermantown, citing secrecy through NDAs, inadequate environmental review, and issues with water use, electricity, noise pollution and more.
Data centers have a political problem — and Big Tech wants to fix it
A growth engine for the economy is becoming a political albatross. Can messaging change that?
Are AI data centers coming to your area?
This free, crowd-sourced tracker website is one of the most comprehensive attempts we’ve seen to keep tabs on where new data centers are being proposed. Maps are currently available across 18 states, with data compiled from public sources. You can read about the Data Center Proposal Tracker creator’s methodology here. [Image: Here’s a screenshot from the tracker showing sites around NYC. https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/Screenshot-2026-04-16-100907.jpg?quality=90&strip=all]
How (Not) to Write a Privacy Law
After many years of failed starts, proposed information privacy legislation has begun moving forward in both houses of Congress. The docket in the recently ended 116th Congress was crowded, with a number of different proposals jostling for attention and no agreement on which deserved to be the front runner. Even so, as the 117th Congress begins, there is growing inside-the-Beltway consensus on the list of features that a successful bill will need to include. This paper critically assesses those zones of emerging consensus.
I think the data center backlash is mostly about data centers
It’s probably not your ideological thing, or mine. It’s about object-level claims about how data centers impact the communities where they’re built, many of which are wrong.
