We demand an immediate moratorium on the approval, permitting, and construction of hyper-scale data centers at the federal, state, and local levels which would remain in effect unless and until comprehensive, enforceable regulatory frameworks are established to safeguard water, energy systems, environmental integrity, and the health and welfare of affected communities.

A moratorium is necessary to prevent irreparable harm while policymakers and regulators develop clear, transparent, and science-based standards governing resource consumption, environmental impacts, land use, and community protections. In the absence of such regulations, continued development poses significant and potentially irreversible risks to human health and water supplies

A pause on hyper-scale data center construction will allow time to develop regulations and help communities understand the potential negative impacts of these projects, and allow time for communities to decide whether they consent to these projects moving in next-door. Many projects were and still are concealed behind non-disclosure agreements, preventing citizens from even beginning to grasp how their communities might be affected.

A large-scale data center proposed in Farmington, Minnesota, could use over 800 million gallons of water in one year! These facilities have the potential to drain aquifers while also putting our drinking water at risk of becoming contaminated. We cannot waste our children’s and the next generation's water to power artificial intelligence! Clean water is needed for their survival! The energy required to power these facilities is also something our planet cannot afford to waste!

A Department of Energy report predicted that blackouts would increase 100-fold by 2030 due to the energy needed by hyper-scale data centers. It was predicted that Minnesota’s electricity usage would double if all 10 proposed data centers were built. Bloomberg notes wholesale electricity costs as much as %267 more than it did five years ago in areas near data centers. To be clear, nuclear energy is not the answer to this! Nuclear energy leaves behind legacy contamination, and the radioactive waste that is created remains a threat for many generations into the future. There is no solution for long-term storage of this waste at the moment, but as the demand for electricity grows, so will the demand for critical metals.

High-impact metals are being diverted to build massive data centers to power artificial intelligence rather than urgently needed climate solutions. The consequences of this are irreversible. Metal mining is the most polluting industry in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, leaving behind toxic contamination that can persist for generations and is often impossible to fully reverse.

The burden of this extraction falls disproportionately on Indigenous communities: Morgan Stanley Research estimates that 97% of nickel, 89% of copper, 79% of lithium, and 68% of cobalt reserves and resources in the United States lie beneath or within 35 miles of Tribal lands. We cannot sacrifice Indigenous homelands so the ultra-wealthy can continue amassing profits on a scale that far exceeds any reasonable human need.

Other harmful impacts that accompany these proposed projects include noise and light pollution and heating of local communities. CNN reported that areas near hyper-scale data centers are creating heat islands, warming up the land around them by as much as 16 degrees!

Communities must be allowed time to understand the true impacts of these facilities and decide whether they consent to their construction next to their homes! A moratorium will allow time to create regulations and environmental frameworks that enable full transparency into the true cost of these projects. At this moment, what these facilities take from communities far outweighs the benefits they provide. We must hit pause and enact a moratorium now to allow time to look at who truly benefits and who pays the costs!