A good start would be to limit new data center construction to zero-emissions DC-only compute. Slap a ZEDCO badge on it and you’ll get that buy-in you’re looking for.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/30/climate/data-centers-are-...
But I don’t see how local temperatures on the site of the DC itself is somehow an existential threat to people in the area unless their house is 50’ away from it.
At the end of the day NIMBYs always have their opinions about everything from views to noise to traffic, but there’s a limit to how much rights one has to control the property beyond one’s own land.
I think there's something social going on.
Of course electricity wouldn't be such a problem if US government chose to invest in cheap, sustainable energy sources and upgrade its grid. China is building solar and nuclear like crazy, and that gives them a massive advantage here.
Hopefully in future elections Americans choose a candidate and party that isn't bought by the fossil fuel lobby.
And Newsom also doesn’t support nuclear, while our electricity prices are already over double most other states.
The Democratic Party’s modern strategy about energy seems to be to just throw wrenches into the existing fossil fuel world (because that’s the easy part) and then wag the finger at consumers when they complain. “Well, you gross polluter, you should have just bought a $40,000 EV and a $700,000 house to put $25,000 solar panels on!”
To be clear, I’d love to vote for a Democrat who had a real energy policy that replaced dirty energy with clean, and was able to get tons of people into EVs where practical.
So is it the water? I don't know where i sit on the water argument. Equinix near LAX had chillers, i guess, but really it's just massive HVAC. chillers don't work everywhere (my understanding). I don't remember plumes of humidity coming off the facility, either. I also don't remember being able to hear it from outside the building, or even in the foyer before you went through the mancatchers.