The U.S. will benefit tremendously from artificial intelligence—if we can keep technology naysayers from strangling the baby in the cradle.
Across the U.S., people are fighting to block the construction of AI data centers. Activists, politicians and ordinary citizens worry these massive complexes will drive up electricity prices, deplete water supplies and hasten the arrival of various AI doomsday scenarios. According to analyst Robert Bryce, more than 70 communities have moved to restrict or reject data-center projects—in the first four months of 2026 alone. Mr. Bryce, who has spent years tracking opposition to wind and solar farms, writes, “I’ve never seen anything like the raging backlash against data centers.”
Roughly one-third of U.S. states have attempted to limit the AI build-out. Maine’s legislature recently passed an 18-month ban on data-center construction (Gov. Janet Mills vetoed it). Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have introduced legislation requiring a nationwide pause in AI projects. “We must choose humanity over profit,” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez said.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the Wall Street Journal (paywall)
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James B. Meigs is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a City Journal contributing editor.
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