Everyone's Wrong About AI Data Centers

Should AI data centers be banned, or are they the key to America's future? Let's find out. Welcome to America Uncovered, I'm Chris Chappell. Over the past couple of years, AI has really come into its own. It's transforming how we work, how we learn. And before you click off, don't worry, this isn't an ad read. We're actually talking about data centers in this one. Anyway, like I was saying, more than half of US employees now use AI at work. 90% of college students use AI in their studies. And even high schoolers are getting in on the action, with a majority now using generative AI to get through homework and other classroom assignments. And the last one is a real shame. Knowing how to write a 7-page paper on a book you haven't read is an important life skill you just can't learn with chat GPT. But beyond help with work and school, AI has given us something near and dear to my heart. All that yummy, yummy slop. From the adorable, to the horrifying, to the potentially lifeless. And none of this would be possible without data centers. The massive, electricity-hungry brains of the AI revolution we see popping up all over the country. However, a lot of people are worried about the effect that these data centers could have on themselves and their communities. A whopping 70% of Americans pulled by Gallup opposed the construction of new data centers in their local areas. And this isn't a partisan issue, either. An overwhelming majority of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents all either somewhat or strongly oppose the construction of new data centers close to where they live. The reasons for opposing new data centers are varied, but a few key concerns stick out. The biggest ones involve resources. These centers use too much water, and put too heavy a load on already strained electrical grids. Some worry that data centers will drive up their electricity costs due to increased demand. Others think they're just too damn noisy, or are afraid that AI could take away their jobs. So naturally, we're now seeing a backlash against data centers. On Saturday, 142 anti-data center protests popped up across 42 states. New York placed a one-year ban on the building of all hyperscaler data centers, or centers that use 50 megawatts or more power, with many states considering similar proposals. But is this the right way to approach AI? I mean, you can't really stop technological progress. Unless you're Pol Pot, I guess. And clearly, AI is going to be an important technology going forward, whether we're talking about the economy, the military, or anything else. If that wasn't the case, China wouldn't be investing 295 billion dollars into its own nationwide AI buildout. While at the same time, using its own media and a network of proxies to try and make Americans shy away from AI. Proxies which include the China-based tech mogul Neville Royce Singham and his wife Jodi Evans, one of the founders of Code Pink. Seriously, I just can't get away from these two. What I'm saying is, we can't just ignore AI. But at the same time, the concerns people have about it are real. But maybe there's a way we can have our cake and eat it, too. We have examples of how data centers can be done right, so that the American people can reap the benefits of AI while minimizing the downsides. So let's look at some of those concerns I cited earlier. First, water. Not every data center consumes water the same way. What most people picture when they think of data centers is evaporative cooling. Basically, you've got these wet pads on the outside of the building. Fans pull outside air through the pads, evaporating the water and creating cool air that gets piped into the server room. While some of that water can be reused to soak the pads again, you do lose some to evaporation. But there's also liquid cooling, which recirculates fluid over and over instead of evaporating it, and free air cooling, which doesn't use water at all. That's the system used by Amazon's data centers about 90% of the time. The type of cooling used just has to be tailored to where the center is located. If you're in Mississippi, then water scarcity isn't really a problem. But if you're in Arizona, well, then you should probably stick to air cooling. But what about the increased demand for electricity, and how it will drive up costs for everyone else? The Department of Energy expects data centers to consume as much as 12% of US electricity by 2028. And Trump's Energy Secretary Chris Wright even admitted that it's having an effect, saying, In rural America right now, where data centers are being built, everyone's already angry because their electricity prices have risen a lot. But there may be a way around this. Making the data centers eat the cost. As of July 2026, 24 states have approved at least one large load tariff. Ok, so what does a large load tariff do, exactly? Well, if a massive customer like a data center wants to use a huge amount of power, the data center has to pay for upgrades to the electrical grid. That way, the cost of building out these facilities doesn't show up on your monthly statement. Georgia's Public Service Commission went even further, making the state's biggest electric utility Georgia Power. It signed an agreement stating that it agreed to financially backstop the costs, meaning whatever it costs to build out power for these data centers, the companies or even the utility would eat the cost and not regular customers. And New Jersey passed a similar law. Did everyone's bills stay low because of this? Well, we don't know yet. We'll have to check back in a couple of years to see how well this pans out. But these sorts of policies should at least give Americans some breathing room as we continuously build up our electrical grid. Alright, but what about the noise? Data centers are loud, and you probably wouldn't want one sitting in your backyard. This is a real problem in states like Virginia, where nearly a third of its data centers are located within 200 feet of residential areas. Ok, this one's pretty easy to solve. The issue isn't really with the data centers specifically, but rather zoning laws. I know, thrilling stuff, but it's important, I swear. As a report from one Virginia county explains, data centers are a relatively new type of land use that many localities have not defined in their zoning ordinances, or the existing definition is outdated. What they're essentially saying is most places' zoning laws were written decades ago, when the term data center really meant the server rack in the back of someone's office. But today, they're these massive complexes. So the solution is to either give data centers their own special classification that requires them to be further away from where people live, or just lump them in with all the other factories and power plants, which they basically are. Now finally, what about the jobs? These data centers are largely for AI, so is AI going to replace us? Well, it depends. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the growing adoption of AI technologies are expected to dampen labor demand in a variety of fields, such as sales, design, and administrative support. But on the flip side, demand for AI technologies boost employment demand for computer occupations involved in its development and implementation. So it's a mixed bag for white collar folks. But you know who the real winner is in all this? Blue collar workers. I'm talking construction workers, electricians, welders, HVAC techs. Somebody has to physically pour the concrete and run the high voltage wiring. As one CEO put it, AI cannot build its own data centers. And boy, do these jobs pay. Mike Rowe, the dirty jobs guy, has been telling stories about how the demand from data centers has many a Gen Z electrician clearing 280,000 a year. So put it together and you get a reshuffle, not a robot apocalypse. It's brutal if you have the kind of desk job AI can replace, but at the same time, it's arguably the biggest blue collar hiring boom in a generation. And after decades of offshoring and deindustrialization, it's a welcome change. So to summarize, the people worried about data centers aren't crazy. Water scarcity, higher bills, a diesel generator humming outside your bedroom window at 2am, these are real problems. But simply banning data centers isn't the only solution we have available. States are already showing you can make these companies pay their own way. We can fix the zoning laws. And we can choose technologies suited to wherever these facilities are located. Do that, and the benefits could be immense. Hundreds of thousands of trade jobs that pay real money. A chance to train up an entire generation of people who know how to actually build things. An opportunity to remake our energy and our manufacturing, and become the powerhouse America was in the past. We just have to be smart in how we go about it. So in the meantime, maybe we should lay off the brain rot. What do you think? Leave your comments below. I read as many as I can. But I read every comment on AmericaUncovered.tv, where you'll get access to thousands of episodes ad-free, plus a community chat, live streams, and more. Once again, I'm Chris Chappell. Thanks for watching America Uncovered.