Seventy Percent of Young Adults Oppose AI Data Centers

Seventy percent of adults under thirty oppose new data centers in their area. Eighteen-year-old Elijah Lee is leading the pushback. He coordinates high school chapters for Voters of Tomorrow in Virginia. Virginia holds more data centers than anywhere else on earth. A survey from the University of Pennsylvania Annenberg Public Policy Center revealed the widespread opposition. In Pennsylvania, eighty-three percent of likely voters ages eighteen to twenty-nine reject the development. These facilities require massive amounts of electricity and water. One Spartanburg developer raised its projected water use to one point six million gallons daily. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates national data center water use could reach seventy-three billion gallons by twenty-eight. Wholesale electricity costs spiked up to two hundred sixty-seven percent higher in some areas near these sites. Campaigns have spent forty-five million dollars on ads mentioning data centers this year. Governor Josh Shapiro signed an executive order blocking new projects in Pennsylvania unless they meet stricter limits.