Oppose Data Centers? The Working Families Party Wants Candidates.
▼ Summary
– The Working Families Party is actively recruiting people who organize against local data centers to run for office.
– This move coincides with increased political scrutiny, including Senate Democrats seeking information on data center impacts and Senator Bernie Sanders calling for a construction moratorium.
– The party cites constituent concerns about data centers’ effects on electricity bills, climate, water, and communities as its motivation for the recruitment effort.
– Opposition to data centers is growing nationally, with polls showing public reluctance and community actions successfully stalling billions in development.
– Data centers have become a significant political issue, influencing recent elections in states like Virginia and leading to project rejections in places like Arizona.
The Working Families Party is actively recruiting local organizers who oppose data center construction to run for political office, marking a significant escalation in the political battle over these facilities. This strategic move responds to growing community concerns about rising electricity costs, environmental impacts, and quality-of-life issues linked to data center proliferation. The party aims to translate grassroots activism into tangible political power by supporting candidates who prioritize these local challenges.
This recruitment initiative arrives during a period of intense scrutiny. High-profile political figures, including several U.S. Senators, are now questioning the industry’s effects on power grids and consumer bills. Independent Senator Bernie Sanders has gone further, calling for a national halt on new data center construction. According to Ravi Mangla, the party’s national press secretary, this focus is a direct response to constituent anxiety. He argues that addressing the community impacts of data centers is now a fundamental obligation for an organization representing working families.
Originally founded in New York, the progressive Working Families Party now operates nationwide, leveraging its endorsements and organizing muscle to influence elections. While it typically backs candidates from major parties, its support can be decisive. The party’s successful endorsements include New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and a slate of other progressive office-seekers.
Public opposition to data centers has surged as technology companies accelerate construction of hundreds of new facilities. Recent polling indicates that fewer than half of Americans, regardless of political affiliation, would want a data center built near their home. Industry surveys confirm that local resistance is growing, having already disrupted billions of dollars in planned development this year.
The concerns driving this opposition are multifaceted. Soaring electricity rates are a primary complaint, often intertwined with fears about excessive water usage, carbon emissions, and constant noise from cooling systems. These issues have already reshaped local politics. In Virginia, home to the nation’s densest concentration of data centers, voter sentiment on the topic influenced several state legislative races. The political fallout extends far beyond one state, however.
In a unanimous vote last week, officials in Chandler, Arizona, rejected a proposed data center despite lobbying from former Senator Kyrsten Sinema. Meanwhile, voters in Georgia elected a new state legislator who campaigned on making data centers contribute more to local infrastructure. Mangla points to these local victories and the organized pushback they represent as the inspiration for the new recruitment drive. He notes that filling community halls with concerned citizens doesn’t happen by accident; it requires dedicated local leaders. The party now seeks to help those leaders transition from organizing protests to winning elections.
(Source: Wired)
