In Tucson, Arizona, the City Council has unanimously voted to reject Project Blue, a proposed massive data center campus linked to Amazon. The 7-0 vote came after widespread community organizing against what critics viewed as a corporate water grab. The 290-acre data center would have consumed millions of gallons of water in an area already facing drought. Tucson’s Vice Mayor Lane Santa Cruz spoke ahead of Wednesday night’s vote.

Lane Ramona Santa Cruz: “Hundreds of our families have reached out deeply worried about what this data center could mean for them, for our water, for our shared future. I’ve listened to elected officials in other cities who’ve been left to deal with the aftermath of similar developments. And I’ve spoken with national experts in AI data infrastructure to understand what’s truly driving this push. What I’ve learned is simple. Giant corporations prefer to operate in the shadows. But Tucson is not for sale. We deserve transparency and accountability.”