Ro Khanna calls for the right to oppose data centers to be protected
The congressman thinks it's time for a "Data Center Bill of Rights."
Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) has introduced a resolution proposing a "Data Center Bill of Rights" to safeguard local communities' authority to challenge data center projects situated near their dwellings. This resolution follows several state-level initiatives to halt or delay data center projects, including New York's one-year moratorium.
Khanna's resolution aims to shield individuals from being overridden or superseded by state regulations regarding data center development. The resolution asserts that communities should possess the right to reject any data center project through a "transparent community process" and have the option to prohibit data center projects within residential zones and a 2,500-foot radius around homes, schools, childcare facilities, hospitals, or nursing homes.
Additionally, communities should be capable of mandating transparency from data center operators, impeding alterations to their electricity rates, and obligating data centers to utilize renewable energy sources. Although the resolution serves as an outline for a potential bill rather than a law, it underscores significant concerns that warrant regulatory attention.
These concerns encompass the detrimental pollution generated by generators and turbines powering data centers and the potential consumption of up to 32 billion gallons of water annually by AI data centers by 2028. The environmental and financial repercussions of the rapid construction of data centers have been the main factors driving protests and regulation efforts nationwide.
While these issues could potentially be addressed at the state level, the federal government has, for the most part, sought to impede such efforts by exempting data centers from existing environmental regulations and attempting to preclude states from regulating them altogether. The resolution serves as a means to safeguard people's ability to oppose data centers in the absence of a nationwide moratorium.
This resolution is the opposite of California's housing laws, which predominantly aim to curb "NIMBY" objections to high-density development.
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