Across the country, Americans are debating how their lives might change if new AI data centers are built in their backyards. Data center companies and their customers are promising new jobs and economic growth, but that pitch hasn’t won over a majority of Americans who oppose data center construction in their area, often over environmental and energy concerns. For activist Shawmar Pitts, these concerns aren’t theoretical.
He knows better than anyone what it’s like to live in the shadow of American industrialization. A lifelong resident of the Grays Ferry neighborhood in Southwest Philadelphia, Pitts grew up next to what was then the East Coast’s largest oil refinery, which shut down after an explosion in 2019. Though many of his friends and family suffered from chronic health conditions, he didn’t realize what might have caused these illnesses until he encountered the environmental justice group Philly Thrive, which was tabling in his neighborhood in 2018 about a proposed oil refinery expansion.
While there have been no formal proposals for construction yet, city officials have identified two potential sites: one in Northeast Philadelphia and the other in Pitts’ Grays Ferry neighborhood. Data center opposition from local residents isn’t unique to Philadelphia. Residents across the United States have pushed back against new data center construction, particularly those living in cities and towns with finite resources.
But the pushback has been particularly swift from people living in communities where big industry’s mark is still felt. She said he didn’t smoke or drink, and she believes that emissions from the refinery caused his illness. I believe he would be here today if he wasn’t silently murdered, because it was the pursuit of profit that killed him.” A Philadelphia data center may not have as severe an environmental impact as the now-defunct Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery, which processed up to 335,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
But the international race to dominate the AI industry has become so extreme that by 2035, BloombergNEF predicts that U.S. data centers will consume more natural gas than Germany and Japan combined. That’s almost double the firm’s projection from nine months ago. Natural gas burns a lot cleaner than other fossil fuels, like oil, but it’s far from harmless.
Burning one cubic foot of natural gas releases the equivalent of 60 grams of carbon dioxide, and additional data center demand is expected to generate an extra 1 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution each day, which is about 12% of all present day U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Harvard University researchers found in 2021 that fossil fuel air pollution is responsible for one in five deaths worldwide, a staggering figure that is bound to increase in the age of AI. In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul signed an executive order that temporarily prevents the state from approving new permits for large projects.
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