Americans across the country are debating how their lives might change if new artificial intelligence data centers are built nearby. Companies and customers promise job creation and economic growth. However, most Americans oppose data center construction in their areas over environmental and energy concerns.
For activist Shawmar Pitts, these worries are not theoretical. He lives in the Grays Ferry neighborhood of Southwest Philadelphia. Pitts grew up next to what was then the East Coast largest oil refinery. That facility shut down after a 2019 explosion. Many of his friends and family suffered from chronic health conditions. He did not realize the potential cause until he met the environmental justice group Philly Thrive in 2018.
Pitts read information about how living near the refinery affects health. He recognized illnesses on the paper from his own family and neighbors. Pitts now serves as the managing co-director of Philly Thrive. He is leading the charge for a data center moratorium in Philadelphia. City officials have identified two potential sites. One is in Northeast Philadelphia and the other is in Grays Ferry. No formal construction proposals exist yet.
Data center opposition from local residents is not unique to Philadelphia. Residents across the United States are pushing back against new construction. This is especially true in cities with finite resources. The pushback is swift from people living in communities where heavy industry left a permanent mark.
Philly Thrive board president Sonya Sanders spoke at a rally on Monday at Philadelphia City Hall. She stated that residents do not want data centers, pollution, or noise. She also expressed doubt about job creation. Sanders lost her husband to a rare bone cancer in 2020. She believes refinery emissions caused his illness.
A Philadelphia data center may have a smaller environmental impact than the defunct Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery. That refinery processed up to 335,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Still, the global race for artificial intelligence dominance is extreme. BloombergNEF predicts that U.S. data centers will consume more natural gas than Germany and Japan combined by 2035. That projection is nearly double what the firm estimated nine months ago.
Natural gas burns cleaner than oil, but it remains harmful. Burning one cubic foot of natural gas releases 60 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent. Additional data center demand is expected to generate an extra 1 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution daily. That equals about 12 percent of present day U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Harvard University researchers found in 2021 that fossil fuel air pollution accounts for one in five deaths worldwide.
Clean Air Council attorney Annie Fox spoke at the rally. She noted that a typical data center planned in Pennsylvania includes hundreds of diesel engines. These engines emit air pollution. Fox stated that data centers might use these engines instead of drawing from an overstressed electrical grid during heat waves. She warned that fossil fuel dependent data centers will worsen climate change.
Citizens across the country are influencing public officials. New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order temporarily preventing the state from approving new permits for large projects. Hochul stated that progress should not arrive with higher utility bills, a deleted water supply, or noise pollution. She added that data centers should only be built in places that want them.
Data centers moratoriums are approved in several U.S. cities. These locations include Denver, Indianapolis, Asheville, Charlotte, and Reno. The moratoriums give city officials time to study potential impacts. Philadelphia resident Donna Greenberg attended the rally and voiced worries about pollution, surveillance, and strain on local water and electricity supplies.
More than 100 people attended the kickoff rally for the No Data Centers in Philly campaign. Attendees chanted to ensure city council members heard them inside City Hall. Pitts called the community fight tremendous and noted the massive effort required. City officials have not announced a final decision on the proposed data center sites.
