If we had regulations on noise, vibration, emissions, water use, electromagnetic radiation, whatever else, then it wouldn’t matter what people tried to build — if it fits within the guidelines great, otherwise back to the drawing board.
Putting “data center” in your ordinances is as lazy and ineffective as putting “abattoir.”
We certainly do! It’s just often overridden and ignored for these companies and data centers
Sane jurisdictions do have regulations regarding these things. Not all jurisdictions are sane, some of them are run by people who sell out their residents.
Suburbs and cities around me all have noise regulations, my state has its own pollution regulations, and the local water utilities don’t hook up customers that stress the system. Unfortunately there are places like Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi that don’t give two shits about their citizens and let companies run temporary natural gas turbines permanently and all kinds of other nonsense.
This does sound plausible, but it's also pretty sad and not a sign of a healthy democracy