Published Jun 12, 2026
Climate and EnergyClean Water
The Stop Data Centers Coalition brings hundreds of organizations and communities across the country together to stop Big Tech’s AI data centers.
Big Tech’s data centers are proliferating across the country, wreaking havoc on communities, spiking electricity rates, draining local water resources, and threatening our climate. But people are rising up in cities and towns to organize to stop them. Now, a national coalition is uniting these grassroots efforts and hundreds of organizations around a national call to action: No New Data Centers!
The rush to deploy artificial intelligence (AI) and hyperscale data centers has hit communities across the country like a runaway train. With little planning, regulation, or foresight, Big Tech has moved forward at a breakneck pace. The Trump administration and many state leaders, including Democratic governors, are greasing the wheels. But people and the environment are bearing the costs of the billionaire Tech Bros’ latest profit machine.
The negative impacts of AI data centers have been well-documented, and we know the best response is to pull the brakes. Last year, Food & Water Watch launched a call for a national moratorium, or pause, on data centers, with over 230 organizations supporting our letter to Congress. Since then, the movement has continued to grow.
With the launch of the Stop Data Centers Coalition, we’re taking the next step in this fight. We’ll support local organizing, share resources and information, and put even more power and pressure behind a national halt to data centers. Together, we’ll overcome Big Tech’s deep pockets and powerful allies to protect our communities and the environment.
The Stop Data Centers Coalition reaches coast to coast, powered by activists already winning against AI data centers in their backyards. More than 500 organizations have joined our call for a nationwide halt to data centers. These include health, faith, environmental, labor, and community organizations, with members in every state in the country.
Our coordinating committee of state and national organizations includes Citizens Action Coalition, Green Latinos, Media Justice, North Carolina Environmental Justice Network, Our Revolution, Pennsylvania Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Third Act, along with Food & Water Watch.
The coalition brings together powerful efforts happening across the country towards a unified call for national action. For example, across Indiana, Citizens Action Coalition has worked with communities to stop at least a dozen proposed data centers and organized 27 groups to call for a statewide moratorium.
The North Carolina Environmental Justice Network has worked with partners to pass at least 17 local moratoria on new data centers. And across Pennsylvania, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Food & Water Watch, and other allies have stopped local data center proposals and driven a recent state bill for a three-year pause on data center permitting.
Every energy-hungry, water-guzzling data center stopped is a victory for people and the environment. But we know we need even broader measures that stop Big Tech from forcing these facilities onto us without strong protections in place. Thanks to grassroots pressure, over a dozen states have now introduced laws to stop data centers.
Earlier this year, Maine became the first state to pass a moratorium bill. Though Governor Janet Mills vetoed it, communities continue to organize there.
On June 4, in New York — facing dozens of data center proposals — the legislature passed a one-year moratorium and regulation bill. All eyes are now on Governor Hochul, who must sign this legislation.
This moratorium bill gives state leaders the time to study the inherent risks of data centers and pass comprehensive protections for communities. It also gives local communities breathing room and the ability to stop destructive projects proposed near them. The Stop Data Centers Coalition will be pressing Hochul to sign this bill, and we’ll continue supporting state bills to pause data centers across the country.
At the federal level, our movement has driven allies Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to announce federal legislation to pause data centers nationwide. Passing this bill is imperative to protect every community from Big Tech’s so-far unrestrained greed.
Join the fight! Tell your members of Congress: Support the AI Data Center Moratorium Act!
Despite this great progress, there is much more work to be done. Big Tech is relentless in its drive for more AI data centers. In recent years, companies driving the AI frenzy have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on lobbying to sway our leaders.
Tech Bro billionaires are also pouring millions of dollars into elections across the country to ensure their lackeys are in positions to do their bidding, instead of following the will of the people.
On top of this, Big Tech and its minions are attempting to smear efforts to stop data centers. Recent reports have made laughable claims that “foreign adversaries” and the Chinese Communist Party are behind data center opposition.
This is a ludicrous and, frankly, embarrassing move for the industry. People across the country are seeing their electricity bills skyrocket, communities disrupted, and water supplies diminished. No one paying higher electricity bills or living near a data center needs anyone to tell them about the impact these monstrosities are having.
These desperate attacks are a sign that Big Tech fears our movement’s strength.
The tech industry may be spending big and spreading propaganda, but we know that by coming together, we can resist Big Tech’s greed.
We’re seeing it in communities across the country, and we’re seeing it reflected in polling. Recent surveys from Heatmap show that 70% of people oppose new data center construction near their homes, and 61% of people support a nationwide moratorium on new data centers.
And these stances are turning into on-the-ground organizing that is winning real progress against Big Tech’s onslaught. Now, the Stop Data Centers Coalition will support these efforts across the country, advance federal protections to stop the AI data center frenzy, and bring people together to defend our communities and environment.
Watch our June 11 launch event below to learn more about the coalition and how you can get involved!
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Food & Water Watch fights for the safe and healthy food, clean water, and livable climate we all deserve. We empower people to take on destructive corporations and the policy makers who enable them, in order to stop pollution, defend democracy, and protect the planet — now and for future generations.
Food & Water Watch is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
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