Across the United States, rows of concrete boxes filled with humming servers are sprouting faster than ever. These data centers supply the raw computing power that fuels the rapid growth of artificial intelligence models, but a fresh nationwide poll reveals that a growing share of citizens view the expansion as an ecological hazard.
Survey reveals sharp rise in environmental worry
The poll, conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research together with the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, asked 3,424 adults about their level of concern for AI’s ecological footprint. Now, 53 % say they are “extremely” or “very” worried – a jump from 41 % a year earlier. The anxiety cuts across party lines: 65 % of Democrats, 42 % of Republicans and 49 % of independents expressed strong worry, up from the previous year.
When respondents were asked whether they would back limits on the construction of new facilities, roughly six in ten said yes, a sentiment that holds true for both major parties. Two-thirds of U.S. adults also favor mandating that data centers draw power from clean sources such as wind or solar, with 80 % of Democrats and 56 % of Republicans in agreement. As Michael Greenstone, director of the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute, put it, the nation is “undertaking a massive experiment in real time, and I don’t think there’ll be any putting the milk back in the bottle. Change is scary.”
Scale of the data-center surge and its resource demands
Clearview, a market-intelligence firm tracking power infrastructure, counts 1,287 operational data centers in the United States today and more than 2,000 projects slated for construction. Virginia and Texas host the highest concentrations, while many of the pending sites target rural communities in the South and Midwest. The drive is largely powered by the rise of hyperscale facilities, which are larger, more energy-intensive, and designed to train and run massive AI models.
Environmental stakes are substantial. A United Nations report released in June warned that AI-related water use could swell to the equivalent of 1.3 billion people’s needs by 2030. In the United States, a 2024 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory analysis predicts data centers could consume 11.8 % of national electricity by that same year. The poll shows 60 % of respondents are “extremely” or “very” concerned about rising electricity prices and water scarcity in the neighborhoods where centers are built.
Without a clean-energy transition, BloombergNEF projects U.S. data centers will burn more natural gas than most nations by 2035. These figures underscore why many observers view the infrastructure boom as a double-edged sword – it powers economic competitiveness but also threatens critical resources.
Local reactions, moratoriums and political rhetoric
Across the country, state and municipal officials are pressing pause buttons. By September 2026, the Urban Institute recorded 313 moratoriums affecting 44 states and over 200 cities, counties and other jurisdictions. Local leaders argue that the rapid rollout outpaces the understanding of long-term impacts on water tables and electric grids.
Former President Trump, a vocal champion of data-center growth, invoked a stark mantra on social media: “let Data Reign.” He added, “The only reason that communities throughout the U.S.A. should not want Data Centers is if they want to end up being backwards and poor.” By contrast, many residents voiced skepticism. Eriech Tapia, a 30-year-old Republican from Arlington, Virginia, observed the sheer number of new structures and admitted, “I think decisions are being made for the company, not for the community they’re being built in.” A 68-year-old retired Republican in Jacksonville, Florida, said she had not seen any local proposal and therefore felt no immediate urgency.
Public sentiment on benefits versus costs
When asked about the upside of data centers, only about 25 % of adults rated them as “extremely” or “very” beneficial for technological advancement, and roughly 20 % saw a strong job-creation upside. Republicans tended to view the facilities more favorably than Democrats, yet even among GOP respondents, three in ten believed the centers were “not very” or “not at all” helpful for infrastructure or employment.
College student Gedeon Kebede, a Democrat studying computer science in Ohio, summed up the paradox: “There’s a lot of water usage by AI data centers that’s taking away from agriculture… Change is scary, and I think some of that is being reflected here.” The mixed picture of perceived advantages and environmental worries suggests that the nation is at a crossroads, weighing immediate economic gains against long-term sustainability.
