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  "description": "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.'",
  "path": "/people-hate-datacenters-survey-finds/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-13T12:40:01.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.404media.co",
  "tags": [
    "_published the study_",
    "_called for a moratorium_",
    "__",
    "_Research shows_",
    "_a 2025 brief_",
    "_used to test nuclear weapons_",
    "_controversial $2.4 billion datacenter_",
    "_during a city council meeting_",
    "_locals are concerned_",
    "_powered by gas turbines_",
    "_pull water from an aquifer_",
    "_a pledge_",
    "_posted on social media_",
    "pic.twitter.com/dRfAdQ67zD",
    "March 11, 2026",
    "@SenSanders"
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  "textContent": "A new study from the Pew Research Center asked Americans about their feelings toward datecenters and it’s not positive. Pew _published the study_ the day after Sen. Bernie Sanders _called for a moratorium_ on the construction of datacenters in the United States amid mounting public concern around the building’s impacts on local communities.\n\nPew surveyed 8,512 adults in January and asked them a broad range of questions about how they felt about datacenters. Most of the respondents said they’d heard of datecenters and the more they’d read, the less they liked them.\n\n💡\n\n****Is an unwanted datacenter being built in your community? I would love to hear from you. Using a non-work device, you can message me securely on Signal at +1 347 762-9212 or send me an email at matthew@404media.co.****\n\nMost of the Americans surveyed believe that datacenters are bad for the environment, home energy costs, and the quality of life of people living nearby and the numbers aren’t close. Only four percent of people thought datacenters were good for the environment, six percent good for jobs, and six percent good for people’s quality of life.\n\nDespite those negative feelings, many of the people surveyed thought that datacenters would be good for jobs in the communities where they’re built and would boost local tax revenue. “Still, Americans are less likely to express positive views of data centers’ impact in these areas than to express negative views of their effects on the environment, energy costs and people’s quality of life nearby,” the research said.__\n\n_Research shows_ that the reality of job creation by datacenters doesn’t actually live up to the promises from those lobbying to build them. “Data centers do not bring high-paying tech jobs to local communities because they operate as infrastructure projects rather than traditional jobcreating businesses,” University of Michigan researchers wrote in _a 2025 brief_. “Although the construction of data centers can create many jobs, those are short lived.”\n\nThe survey charts a growing anti-datacenter sentiment in America. The US is in the middle of a massive infrastructure project similar to the Manhattan Project. In a mad dash to build out AI systems, companies are constructing massive buildings and energy infrastructure across the country, often with little input from local communities and at a massive cost.\n\nThe city of Ypsilanti, Michigan is fighting to stop the construction of a $1.2 billion datacenter that would be _used to test nuclear weapons_. In the middle of a massive winter storm that paralyzed the state in January, lawmakers in a rural South Carolina county pushed through the approval of a _controversial $2.4 billion datacenter_. In Oklahoma, police arrested a man who was speaking in opposition to a datacenter after he went slightly over his time _during a city council meeting_.\n\nDatacenters are terrible neighbors. The buildings drive up the cost of energy for people who live nearby, consume massive amounts of water, and can produce noises and fumes that hurt locals. In Mississippi, _locals are concerned_ about the pollution and noise caused by an xAI datacenter _powered by gas turbines_. A proposed datacenter project near Amarillo, Texas would be powered by four massive nuclear generators and _pull water from an aquifer_ with dwindling reserves. In an effort to quell fears about power consumption, Trump made Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, Oracle, and xAI sign _a pledge_ to keep energy costs down. But a pledge isn’t a law. It’s not even an executive order.\n\nPew’s research came out the day after Sanders announced he was proposing legislation to put a moratorium on the construction of new datacenters in the US. “We are at the beginning of the most profound technological revolution in world history. That’s the truth,” Sanders said in a video _posted on social media_. “This is a revolution which will bring unimaginable changes to our world. This is a revolution which will impact our economy with massive job replacement. It will threaten our democratic institutions. It will impact our emotional well-being and what it even means to even mean to be a human being.”\n\n> We need a moratorium on AI data centers NOW. Here’s why. pic.twitter.com/dRfAdQ67zD\n>\n> — Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) March 11, 2026\n\n“Congress hasn’t a clue how to respond…and protect the American people. It’s not only not having a clue, they’re busy out raising money all day long from AI and their super PACs,” Sanders said. “We need a moratorium on datacenters. 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.",
  "title": "People Hate Datacenters, Survey Finds",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-13T12:40:01.376Z"
}