Data centres emerge as bipartisan concern ahead of US midterms

Early voting is underway in Virginia ahead of next month's US midterm elections. While Republicans and Democrats remain deeply divided on most issues, there is one issue where they appear to be increasingly aligned, and that is data centers. Our Washington correspondent Jackie Fox went to Virginia's so-called data center alley to see how the backlash over their rapid growth is affecting politics.

Before you used to have nice wooded areas when you drive back to our neighborhoods and whatnot, and now it's just you're l- driving through data centers.

Residents of Loudoun County in Virginia are surrounded by data centers.

They're a bit much at this point. A couple were fine, and now it seems like everywhere there's a data center, and they're popping up still constantly.

This area just outside of Washington, DC is known as the data center capital of the world, as it hosts around 250 of them, and some are easy to spot and hear. [fan humming] Loudoun County is a model for a data center boom, now also a study of the fierce debate surrounding them.

As they're building them, the environmental connections are rather concerning. Um, as we have to build data centers, the water usage, um, and overall environmental impact is pretty scary.

I got no problem with them because they keep the taxes down. I mean, our property taxes in Loudoun County are way lower than all the areas around here. And, you know, obviously we probably have enough of them. [laughs] I don't know whether we need any more, but, you know, I don't have a real- I've never had a problem with them.

Polls show a majority of Americans oppose them being built in their communities, and that opposition has only grown this year. [upbeat music]

Big tech billionaires are coming for Wyoming. They want massive data centers.

This has now turned into an unlikely election issue and has produced an unlikely moment. Most Republicans and Democrats are on the same page.

I'm Chuck Gray, and in Congress, I'll stop data centers.

Candidates for Congress in these midterm elections have been responding to growing voter concerns with targeted ads specifically about data centers.

Demanding safety, transparency, and accountability when it comes to data center projects all over the state. In the-

Experts say this reaction was coming.

People are, are rightfully sort of get- getting concerned.

Maya Levio is with the School of Communication at American University.

And they're doing so on all sides of the political spectrum. They're doing so, um, you know, rural communities and urban communities, and, uh, low income and high income. It's really something that's touched on a lot of people.

And history should show that we shouldn't be surprised by this pushback.

Sort of this perfect storm, if you will, of a whole bunch of things that are coming together, and coming together faster than people can frankly really, you know, assimilate and, and understand what's going on. I'm Sujai Shivakumar. I am a senior fellow here at CSIS, where I direct the Reviving American Innovation Program.

And this isn't a Republican issue. It's not a Democrat issue. It's actually something both parties seem to be agreeing on.

Yeah, because it, uh, you know, it, uh,