cA coalition of more than 230 environmental groups has called for a national moratorium on the construction of new data centers in the United States.

According to The Guardian, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and Food and Water Watch joined a plethora of local organizations around the country in calling for a ban on new data centers, which comes amid growing backlash to the AI boom and soaring energy prices. 

"I've been amazed by the groundswell of grassroots, bipartisan opposition to this, in all types of communities across the U.S.," Emily Wurth, managing director of organizing at Food and Water Watch, said, per the publication. 

"Everyone is affected by this, the opposition has been across the political spectrum. A lot of people don't see the benefits coming from AI and feel they will be paying for it with their energy bills and water. 

Wurth pointed to "outrageous utility price rises" as a major concern, adding that this is "something Americans really do care about." Households can guard against rising energy costs by investing in solar energy. The technology can significantly reduce electricity costs, even reaching $0. 

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As the tech industry has pumped more and more money into AI — incorporating their large language models and generative systems into everything from your email account to web searches to home appliances — they've needed to build new, massive data centers that consume incredible amounts of power a day. 

That demand for power has increased energy prices by an average of 13% in much of the U.S., and it has forced power companies to rely more heavily on polluting energy sources like oil, natural gas, and coal to meet those needs.

But the impact doesn't stop there.  

Data centers run extremely hot and need water to stay operational. According to projections, AI data centers alone will need 6.4 trillion gallons of water to function by 2027, and all of that water comes directly from the stores people rely on in day-to-day life. 

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The swift increase in data centers could see 44 million tons of carbon pollution added to the atmosphere by 2030, according to The Guardian. 

"The rapid, largely unregulated rise of data centers to fuel the AI and crypto frenzy is disrupting communities across the country and threatening Americans' economic, environmental, climate and water security," the organizations said in their letter. 

It's unclear whether the pushback against data centers from these organizations will have a significant impact, but it is the latest sign that people are starting to question their use and the power demands they create, even as they continue to be built around the world. 

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