Local Zoning and Environmental Protections: Local Communities Best Defense Against Data Centers
By: Michael Bartz
With the mass proliferation and investment in artificial intelligence, data centers are being built to keep up with ever-increasing resource requirements. The AI market is growing at roughly 40% per year and is expected to be a $1 trillion industry in 2032.[1] By 2030, global investment in data centers will amount to roughly $7 trillion, with more than 40% of the total investment being in the United States.[2] However, development of data centers across the United States is not geographically uniform. Roughly 60% of domestic data centers are in just ten states, with Virginia, Texas, and California being the most concentrated.[3] Large data centers are often built in rural communities where they can receive substantial tax breaks.[4]