"Artificial intelligence (AI) is the new wave of extractive history here in the United States. It is no coincidence that AI data centers are expanding in areas that experience some of the most acute environmental injustice and public health concerns. Many of these areas are rural and economically challenged, and often have lax environmental regulatory polices along with tax incentives that data centers have taken advantage of."
"The People Say No: Resisting Data Centers in the South, focuses on how tech corporations are creating their own version of "sacrifice zones" through rapid AI data center development. This expansion comes at a huge cost to the Southern communities where many of the centers are located, including Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. The report contextualizes the US AI race as a form of environmental injustice and environmental racism."
AI data center expansion reshapes communities across the United States, concentrating in rural, economically challenged Southern regions and exploiting lax environmental regulations and tax incentives. The growth creates de facto sacrifice zones that carry severe public health and environmental costs for residents. Black Southerners, low-income white communities, and environmentally vulnerable populations bear disproportionate harm, drawing parallels to Hurricane Katrina and Cancer Alley. Tech corporations prioritize rapid development to meet AI demand while communities express alarm and mobilize resistance. Data center siting perpetuates environmental injustice and environmental racism in states including Louisiana, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina.
Read at Nonprofit Quarterly | Civic News. Empowering Nonprofits. Advancing Justice.
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