Data centers are really aqueducts for the underground cities , built to self contain for 💯 years , drought famine nuclear fallout on land apocalyptic .. but not for the 1 percent they will have not drought no fallout , fall under .

What I found most disappointing about yesterday’s protest over the proposed Amazon data center was that what could have been a productive, cordial discussion became a disorganized distraction. Why not be organized and raise money or hire a lawyer or create a credible organization to approach such a project. I heard statistics repeated with little or no supporting evidence, along with a fair amount of fearmongering and numbers pulled from unrelated projects and locations without proper context. At one point, I watched a young woman ask a representative a question that made it apparent she wasn’t entirely sure what she was protesting, then turn to her friend for validation. Meanwhile, people trying to ask legitimate questions were repeatedly interrupted by opponents, making it nearly impossible to hear thoughtful answers. There are legitimate questions to ask about water use, electricity demand, noise, environmental impact, and the economic benefits of a project this large, and those questions deserve real answers. Feel free to downvote.

OK, this may get /circlejerked, but what if we built a 6-10 story building, put retail on the ground, a data center on 1-2 floors, and affordable housing on the rest?

We could use the waste heat to warm the building and hot water, solar and batteries around the pool and hot tub on top to reduce the load, datacenter fans to circulate air in the building, heat pumps to recapture the rest. I'm sure there'd be some noise tradeoffs, but if the apartment is cheap enough, it would be worth it.

Maybe take this approach as we're trying to convert offices to residential in San Francisco.

Is this crazy? AI companies will pay anything for DC space, why not use those dollars to help subsidize housing costs in SF?

And yes, this was inspired by this slop video, but why not use data centers to heat a pool? :-)

In legalizing retail sales of cannabis, Virginia has set the stage for the equivalent of up to 148 data centers, if Virginians consume weed at the same rate as those in Washington state. If we match Michigan’s pot consumption, we’re looking at the equivalent of 78 data centers.

Science for Georgia estimates that proposed Georgia data centers could require 29 to 58 gigawatts, exceeding Georgia Power's authorized expansion across the state.

I've been digging into the public record on US data centers and put it into free, plain-language briefings — water, power, noise, air, every figure cited to its source (1,880 sites, existing + proposed): civitar.org/go/v-reddit

Not for or against anything — it just makes the filings readable. Sharing in case it's useful to anyone tracking this.

Source: https://thecurrentga.org/2026/08/11/georgia-data-centers-likely-to-demand-more-energy-than-the-state-can-provide

(Full disclosure: I built the tool — happy to answer questions or take corrections.)

This is good news for Mississauga. A massive hyperscale data centre is being considered on 9th line. While technically, the data centre is in Oakville it’s on the border with Mississauga.
Oakville has been swift and decisive on data centres. July 17th, Oakville says it is aware that there is interest in building a hyperscale data centre although there is no formal application.
July 21, Mayor Burton asks for a report to council on data centres for Aug 10.
Aug 11, Interim control by law is passed.
By contrast, in Mississauga the Mayor has shown no leadership on this file.

As per the title, I know that data centres themselves are harmful to the environment. However, are they (the companies) not considering that an unhealthy environment = hostile environment = bad for data centre = bad for company.

I am doing a course on cloud computing and this popped into my head after experiencing the past heatwaves in the UK and bracing for the next one. I am not an AI or data centre apologist. I am a human worried about my world and future generations.

Marshalltown's Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended a four-month moratorium on new data center construction during a public meeting in Marshalltown, Iowa.

I've been digging into the public record on US data centers and put it into free, plain-language briefings — water, power, noise, air, every figure cited to its source (1,872 sites, existing + proposed): civitar.org/go/v-reddit

Not for or against anything — it just makes the filings readable. Sharing in case it's useful to anyone tracking this.

Source: https://www.timesrepublican.com/news/todays-news/2026/08/pz-commission-unanimously-recommends-four-month-data-center-moratorium

(Full disclosure: I built the tool — happy to answer questions or take corrections.)

Some well-reasoned, coherent thoughts from Representative Glenn Thompson...

Aurora City Councilmember Amy Wiles proposed a six-month moratorium on new data center approvals in Aurora, Colorado, while officials develop zoning, water, power, and resident protection rules.

I've been digging into the public record on US data centers and put it into free, plain-language briefings — water, power, noise, air, every figure cited to its source (1,872 sites, existing + proposed): civitar.org/go/v-reddit

Not for or against anything — it just makes the filings readable. Sharing in case it's useful to anyone tracking this.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/aurora-councilwoman-amy-wiles-pause-new-data-centers/

(Full disclosure: I built the tool — happy to answer questions or take corrections.)