Data Centers: Land, Water, Energy
- Lincoln institute of Land Policy, Data Drain: The Land and Water Impacts of the AI Boom
- Off Range: The Land is Their Land (reference water usage and land, tax prices)
“Of the 40-something [data centers] that we’re tracking” in the state, “most of them are in ag areas,” said Bryce Gustafson, program organizer for environmental nonprofit Citizens Action Coalition (CAC). He’s not sure what the exact implications are for food security although he noted, “Last I checked, we can’t eat data or AI…”
At first, she said, private equity firms were the eager buyers.
“That hurts us, because they’re paying a higher price than market value for the land; that drives property values up, then farmers are struggling to pay their taxes,” Blalock said. That price is also “completely out of reach” for any farmers starting out or looking to expand their operations. When data centers are willing to quadruple or quintuple an already-inflated price, affordability for farmers goes up in smoke. - Currency News and the Wall Street Journal (behind paywall after some initial reading) Land grab for data centers is one more obstacle to much-needed housing
- Corporate Land Grab: Taxpayer-Funded Data Centers and the Road to Food Insecurity – Part II
- America’s new land boom isn’t about housing — or even people
Health Related Resources
- German heart muscle study on infrasound
- Clawing Back Power: Learning From Community Champions of Years Past