More than 200 environmental groups are demanding a national moratorium on the construction of data centers in the U.S until new regulations are put in place. In an open letter addressed to Congress, the groups, which include Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Food & Water Watch, write, “The rapid, largely unregulated rise of datacenters to fuel the AI and crypto frenzy is disrupting communities across the country and threatening Americans’ economic, environmental, climate and water security.” Vermont’s independent Senator Bernie Sanders urged opponents of AI data centers to keep up the pressure against elected officials.

Sen. Bernie Sanders: “In community after community, Americans are fighting back against data centers being built by some of the largest and most powerful corporations in the world. They are opposing the destruction of their local environment, soaring electric bills and the diversion of scarce water supplies. Nationally, how will continued construction of AI data centers impact our environment?”