Security1 publisher2 min readPublished
The share calling data centers bad for nearby quality of life rose 19 points since January
Pew surveyed 10,548 adults from July 20 to Aug 9 and found the move against data centers in rural, urban and suburban areas alike and among both parties, while Texas issued a statewide moratorium in August.
The Watch · Security desk
What happened
- Pew's new survey puts the share of Americans who say data centers are mostly bad for the environment at 54 percent, up from 39 percent in January.
- Rural respondents moved from 32 to 50 percent on environmental harm, 32 to 46 percent on home energy costs and 28 to 45 percent on nearby quality of life.
- A majority told Pew they would be uncomfortable if a new data center started operating in their area.
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Why it matters
- exposure Rural opposition on the environment question now sits four points below the national figure, so a greenfield build in low-density areas faces close to the national baseline.
- decision A statewide moratorium in one state and two governors moving toward new rules put a permitting variable into multi-year build schedules.
- precedent The move on the local questions is nearly as large among Republicans as nationally, so a project faces the same opposition in states with friendly legislatures.
- constraint Pew measured attitudes, not permits, and with a fifth to a third of respondents still unsure on each question the toplines can move further in either direction while every project decision stays put.
Quality of life moved 19 points, the widest of the five items Pew asked about [5]. Environment moved 15 and home energy costs 12 [2][3]. The negative shares on local jobs and local tax revenue rose 9 points each, from 15% to 24% and from 12% to 21% [7].
Pew says most data centers now planned or under development will be in rural areas [10]. The rural moves are 18, 14 and 17 points on the three local questions, and urban and suburban respondents moved in the same direction [7][8][9][11].
Both parties moved on the local questions. Republicans and Republican leaners saying data centers are mostly bad for the quality of life of people nearby went from 24% in January to 42%, an 18-point move against the national 19 [12][10][1]. On jobs and tax revenue, more Republicans still say the effects are mostly good than mostly bad, while being 7 points more likely than in January to say mostly bad [18]. Among liberal Democrats, 34% now call data centers mostly bad for local tax revenue, up from 19% [19].
Abbott had supported expansion before the moratorium [13]. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker have shifted toward additional rules and oversight on data center construction and operation [14]. President Donald Trump has consistently supported construction in his second term [15]. Protests against new builds have spread, and some state and local politicians have spoken against the facilities [16]. Pew's fieldwork closed Aug 9 and the survey dates the Texas moratorium only to August, so the order of the two is not established in the record [4][13].
A large block still has no view. Between 18% and 32% say they are not sure how data centers affect each of the five items, and 12% say they have not heard of data centers at all [8]. On the environment question the split is 54% mostly bad against 4% mostly good, about 13 to 1 [1][5][6].
What to watch
- Whether the Texas moratorium is written into statute, allowed to lapse, or challenged, and whether other states copy the moratorium.
- Pew's next wave: whether the 18% to 32% unsure block splits negative or the toplines flatten.
- Whether local jobs and tax revenue, the two questions still close to even, go net negative among Republicans.