Democrats see pollution as next data center battle line
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Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Data center backlash has largely centered on higher electricity bills, but Democratic political strategists are setting their sights on a fresh opportunity to energize voters around a new issue: pollution.
Why it matters: AI and the rapid buildout of the infrastructure that powers it are poised to mobilize voters if candidates can get the messaging right.
Driving the news: Climate Power, a communications firm focused on the politics of climate, is actively advising candidates to speak on pollution tied to data centers and the importance of clean energy.
- The independent organization was founded by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, the League of Conservation Voters, and the Sierra Club.
- Climate Power is advising campaigns that clean-powered data centers appeal to an unlikely coalition of liberals, college-educated women, voters of color and younger men — unlike fossil fuel-powered projects.
Zoom in: The organization is also leveraging the data center issue with a population Democrats are fighting to win back: Latinos.
- In a poll released this week by the firm, 64% of Latinos said keeping costs down and limiting pollution are equally important when considering how to meet data centers' energy demand.
Between the lines: Some political operatives view data centers as ripe for voter mobilization and are starting to zero in on how to message around the issue ahead of the midterms as well as the 2028 presidential election.
- Climate Power has been aggressively pushing out data and findings on voters' views of AI and data centers to campaigns increasingly looking to sharpen their message on energy affordability, spokesperson Marcus Robinson told Axios.
The intrigue: The gap between centrists and progressives on the idea of data center moratoriums may be narrowing.
- New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's data center moratorium drew praise from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who is behind a national data center moratorium bill that would go further and pause new projects nationwide.
The bottom line: Democrats are singing the same tune when it comes to data centers not raising utility bills, not polluting and giving communities a say in their construction.
- But when it comes to messaging those goals effectively, the party is still figuring it out.
