Washington, D.C. – Today Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) will announce the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act, legislation that “would impose a moratorium on the construction of all new AI data centers until strong national safeguards are in place to protect workers, consumers and communities, defend privacy and civil rights and ensure these technologies do not harm our environment.”

In response, Food & Water Watch’s Managing Director of Policy and Litigation Mitch Jones issued the following statement:

“We need a halt to the explosive growth of new AI data center construction now, because political and community leaders across the country have been caught completely off guard by this aggressive, profit-hungry industry. It has yet to be determined if – not how – the industry can ever operate in a manner that sufficiently protects people and society from the profusion of inherent hazards and harms that data centers bring wherever they appear.

“Long before the recent spike in global oil prices, Americans throughout the country were dealing with skyrocketing electricity rates due to the egregious consumption and jolting grid impacts levied by Big Tech’s AI data centers. Meanwhile, these massive facilities are sucking up precious water resources, paving over farmland, driving climate change and disrupting the fabric of communities.

“We mustn’t allow another unchecked Silicon Valley scheme to profit off our backs while sticking us with the bill.

“In the absence of comprehensive federal regulation, people across the country have been rising up and defending their communities with local data center moratoria. And more than a dozen states already have pending legislation that would enact statewide moratoria.

“We commend Senator Sanders and Representative Ocasio-Cortez for their bold, insightful leadership on this critical issue at the federal level. Given the pace of the unregulated AI data center buildout, members of Congress must move quickly to sponsor, champion and pass this critical legislation.”

Last October, Food & Water Watch became the first national organization in the country to call for a full nationwide moratorium on the approval and construction of new data centers. In a letter to Congress in December, more than 230 national, state and local organizations from across the country echoed this call. Meanwhile, Food & Water Watch has been active in fighting numerous proposals in many states, including California, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Earlier this month, Food & Water Watch released a comprehensive, first-of-its-kind report that makes a thorough, urgent case for a nationwide moratorium on the construction of new AI-driven data centers.