Residents of Palm Beach County, Florida, showed up last week in bright green shirts to protest Project Tango, a data center proposed for construction in the area that they say could affect local water supplies, alter their community, and be built too close to a school.
The highly visible pushback during a county vote highlights a wider debate in Florida and elsewhere as communities weigh the tradeoffs of the fast-growing data center boom, according to The Independent.
What's happening?
An auditorium filled with residents on July 15 as county commissioners got ready to take up the proposal for a 3.5 million-square-foot data center. Many attendees reportedly wore shirts reading "NO to Project Tango."
Opponents cite several concerns with the proposal: The proposed site is close to an elementary school, the developer says the project would require 5,000 gallons of potable water each day, and many nearby homes depend on private wells.
Project developers have said a closed-loop water system will be used to reduce water usage. However, such systems have been questioned by some opponents.
"We are hopefully going to convince the county commissioners that this just doesn't belong here," Corey Kanterman, an organizer with Stop Project Tango, told local news station WPBF.
TCD Picks » Good Store Spotlight
Get 10% off your next purchase with code TCD10
Public opposition has already created a major hurdle for the plan. In early July, the county's zoning commission unanimously recommended denying the project, and a petition against it has collected more than 11,000 signatures.
Why does it matter?
"I'm on a well," one resident told Inside Climate News, as cited by The Independent. "If the aquifer were to get contaminated due to potential deep-well injection, I'm out of luck."
As data centers spread to serve cloud computing and artificial intelligence, worries like these are becoming more common.
AI may offer some key benefits, including helping utilities forecast energy demand, integrate more renewable power, and operate grids more efficiently. However, the facilities behind these operations can also consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, strain local infrastructure, raise energy costs, and introduce security or misuse risks if growth outpaces oversight.
TCD Picks » Quince Spotlight
💡These best-sellers from Quince deliver affordable, sustainable luxury for all
What's being done?
Local outlet WPTV reported last week that Palm Beach County commissioners voted to deny Project Tango without prejudice. "The denial without prejudice allows the developer to revise the proposal and submit it again in the future," according to the outlet.
Meanwhile, across Florida, at least 10 localities have passed data center moratoria to pause or stop data center construction, The Independent reported. According to the U.S. Data Center Moratorium Tracker, more than 100 communities nationwide have passed such moratoria, while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently signed an executive order to implement the nation's first statewide moratorium on the facilities.
Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.
