Opponents of large US data centers are drawing lessons from communities abroad that confronted the industry’s demand for electricity, water and land. Author Paris Marx traces those disputes in a new book as data centers become an issue in American elections.
The precedents vary. The Netherlands and Singapore imposed moratoriums beginning in 2019. In Ireland, rising electricity demand made data centers a national grid concern. In The Dalles, Oregon, residents fought to uncover figures showing that Google used 29 percent of the community’s water, according to Marx.
Not every response is simply a ban. New Zealand offers an alternative model in which public institutions can play a larger role in deciding what digital infrastructure gets built and whom it serves. That shifts the debate from whether computation should exist to how its costs and benefits are distributed.
The comparison matters as AI companies seek increasingly large facilities in the United States. Local resistance can force disclosure, delay projects and attach conditions to permits, but demand can also move elsewhere. Communities therefore need access to credible power and water projections before approving projects, along with enforceable limits rather than voluntary promises. The international record shows that policy can alter development, though no single local victory resolves the industry’s global resource demand.