Don't need any astroturfing to explain the data center panic, it's well within organic NIMBYism. I've been trying to get housing built in my town for a decade, the crap stuff say about housing and the fervor with which they block housing is even greater than the data center panic.

Add in 1) all job destruction that Sam Altman and other leaders tout, 2) Musk operating an environmental disaster in the most offensive way possible for xAI, and 3) general fear bait a new technology that has such uncertain consequences, and I'm surprised the backlash isn't stronger.

Go talk to community members about any change in the buildings in their area and the data center backlash fits right in line with normal responses.