The great American data center divide

美国数据中心引发的巨大分歧

In Tazewell County, Illinois, Michael Deppert depends on a natural pool of water beneath the sandy soils of his farm to irrigate the pumpkins, corn, and soybeans growing in his fields. So when a data center was proposed about eight miles away, he feared it would tap the same aquifer, potentially eroding crop yields and profits. 在伊利诺伊州的塔兹韦尔县（Tazewell County），迈克尔·德珀特（Michael Deppert）依靠农场沙土下方的天然蓄水池来灌溉他田里的南瓜、玉米和大豆。因此，当大约八英里外提议建设一个数据中心时，他担心这会抽取同一含水层的水，从而可能导致作物减产并影响利润。

Deppert, who is also the president of the local farm bureau lobby group, says locals were also “nervous” about how a data center would affect the “good, clean drinking water.” Residents launched a fierce opposition campaign, packing city council meetings and mounting petitions. After several months, the project, led by developer Western Hospitality Partners, was scrapped. “You just can’t lay down and let everybody do whatever they wish,” Deppert says. 身为当地农场局游说团体主席的德珀特表示，当地人也对数据中心将如何影响“优质、清洁的饮用水”感到“紧张”。居民们发起了激烈的反对运动，挤满了市议会会议并联名请愿。几个月后，由开发商 Western Hospitality Partners 主导的该项目被取消。德珀特说：“你不能坐以待毙，任由别人为所欲为。”

It is just one of the many pockets of resistance opening up across rural America, where a backlash against the explosive growth of the infrastructure for AI and cloud computing is at its sharpest. Data centers, once clustered around cities and towns, are moving into farm country in search of cheap land and tax incentives. According to Pew Research Center, 67 percent of planned data centers are in rural areas, while 87 percent of existing data centers are in urban ones. 这只是美国农村地区涌现出的众多抵制浪潮之一，在那里，针对人工智能和云计算基础设施爆炸式增长的反对声浪最为强烈。数据中心曾经聚集在城市和城镇周边，现在为了寻求廉价土地和税收优惠，正向农耕地区转移。根据皮尤研究中心（Pew Research Center）的数据，67% 的规划中数据中心位于农村地区，而 87% 的现有数据中心位于城市地区。

“Rural communities have become a target,” says Miquel Vila, lead analyst at Data Center Watch, a research project run by AI security company 10a Labs. More than 160 new AI-focused data centers have been built across the US in the past three years, a roughly 70 percent increase on the total, according to Bloomberg data. “农村社区已经成为了目标，”人工智能安全公司 10a Labs 旗下研究项目 Data Center Watch 的首席分析师米克尔·维拉（Miquel Vila）表示。根据彭博社的数据，过去三年里，全美新建了超过 160 个专注于人工智能的数据中心，总数增长了约 70%。

As the industry has expanded, public opinion has hardened against it. Pew research found that Americans are far more likely to view data centers as harmful than beneficial in terms of environmental impact, domestic energy costs, and quality of life in nearby communities. 随着该行业的扩张，公众舆论对其态度也愈发强硬。皮尤研究发现，在环境影响、国内能源成本以及周边社区生活质量方面，美国人认为数据中心弊大于利的比例要高得多。

The issue is awkward for President Donald Trump and his party. Republican strategists are increasingly wary that the administration’s support for AI could trigger a backlash among key voter blocs, including farming communities, ahead of November’s midterm elections. Around 78 percent of US counties dependent on agriculture voted for him in 2024, according to analysis of election data by Investigate Midwest. 这个问题让唐纳德·特朗普总统及其政党感到尴尬。共和党策略师越来越担心，在 11 月中期选举前，政府对人工智能的支持可能会在包括农业社区在内的关键选民群体中引发反弹。根据 Investigate Midwest 对选举数据的分析，2024 年约有 78% 的依赖农业的美国县投票支持了他。

In rural areas from Illinois to West Virginia, new data center proposals have led to packed public meetings and organized opposition as residents push back. In Indiana, shots were fired at a local lawmaker’s home and a note left on his doorstep reading “no data centers.” Democratic politicians have called for tighter regulation, and Republicans in several states have campaigned against new developments, reflecting the backlash. 从伊利诺伊州到西弗吉尼亚州的农村地区，新的数据中心提案导致了公共会议爆满，居民们组织起来进行抵制。在印第安纳州，有人向当地一名议员的家中开枪，并在其门阶上留下了一张写着“不要数据中心”的字条。民主党政客呼吁加强监管，而多个州的共和党人也开展了反对新开发的运动，这反映了这种反弹情绪。

Even in solidly Republican Texas, agriculture commissioner Sid Miller has argued that projects should be directed towards less productive land, warning that the “unchecked spread of data centers onto prime farm and ranch land is a real and growing threat to our food supply.” 即使在共和党铁票仓德克萨斯州，农业专员西德·米勒（Sid Miller）也主张应将项目引导至生产力较低的土地上，并警告称，“数据中心在优质农场和牧场土地上的无序扩张，是对我们粮食供应的一个真实且日益增长的威胁。”

But the picture is mixed for farmers. While some worry about the industrialization of once-agrarian communities, others welcome the opportunity to cash in on soaring land prices or to generate additional income. The debate has reverberations far beyond America’s farm belt, pitting two visions of the country’s economic development against each other. 但对于农民来说，情况喜忧参半。虽然一些人担心曾经的农业社区会被工业化，但另一些人则欢迎通过飙升的土地价格获利或增加额外收入的机会。这场辩论的影响力远超美国的农业带，它让两种关于国家经济发展的愿景产生了对立。

In the view of the White House and much of Big Tech, the data centers will help the US maintain its lead in AI. Expectations about the growth the infrastructure will deliver underpin everything from sky-high share valuations to state and federal tax breaks granted in the hope of新 jobs and investment. But rural communities, along with many Americans, worry about the immediate impact of data centers on water and power costs and the broader disruption they represent for people’s way of life. 在白宫和许多大型科技公司看来，数据中心将帮助美国保持在人工智能领域的领先地位。对基础设施将带来的增长预期，支撑着从高不可攀的股价估值，到为了吸引就业和投资而给予的州及联邦税收减免等一切事物。但农村社区以及许多美国人，担心数据中心对水费和电费的直接影响，以及它们对人们生活方式所带来的更广泛的破坏。

Environmental groups say there is a lack of transparency. Of the four data center projects that the Sierra Club in West Virginia is tracking, none have disclosed detailed water plans and most intend to build their own gas-fired plants, raising concerns about air pollution as well as water use. For rural communities already wary of outside development, the combination of secrecy and scale has deepened resentment. 环保组织表示，该行业缺乏透明度。在西弗吉尼亚州塞拉俱乐部（Sierra Club）追踪的四个数据中心项目中，没有一个披露了详细的用水计划，且大多数打算建造自己的燃气发电厂，这引发了人们对空气污染以及用水问题的担忧。对于本就对外部开发持警惕态度的农村社区而言，这种秘密性和规模感加深了不满情绪。

Jim Kotcon, chair of the conservation committee for the West Virginia chapter of the environmental lobby group the Sierra Club, is “not opposed to data centers per se,” but argues they must be “done right.” Otherwise, he says, rural counties risk being left with depleted aquifers, new sources of pollution, and, if the boom proves short-lived, stranded assets with no obligation on developers to clean them up. 环保游说团体塞拉俱乐部西弗吉尼亚分会保护委员会主席吉姆·科特康（Jim Kotcon）表示，他“本身并不反对数据中心”，但认为它们必须“以正确的方式建设”。否则，他说，农村县可能会面临含水层枯竭、新的污染源，以及如果繁荣期短暂，还会留下开发商无需负责清理的闲置资产。

Three hours’ drive north of Deppert’s farm in Illinois, Jamie Walters points toward a cluster of vast pale concrete buildings rising from the prairie outside the town of DeKalb. “That’s Meta,” he says. “And that’s only half built.” Ponds for retaining cooling water, electricity substations, and high-voltage lines cut across a landscape where the Walters family has farmed for five generations. Soon the farm itself will be ringed by data centers and infrastructure. 在德珀特位于伊利诺伊州的农场以北三小时车程处，杰米·沃尔特斯（Jamie Walters）指着迪卡尔布（DeKalb）镇外草原上拔地而起的一群巨大的浅色混凝土建筑。“那是 Meta，”他说，“而且那才建了一半。”用于储存冷却水的池塘、变电站和高压线横穿过这片沃尔特斯家族耕种了五代的土地。很快，农场本身也将被数据中心和基础设施所环绕。

But Walters is sanguine about it. He has leased hundreds of acres for solar panels and is under contract to supply renewable power for the data centers. Where corn might net $100 an acre in a good year, he says, an acre given over to solar can generate thousands. Although he runs a whiskey distillery—for which pure water is vital—Walters says he is “cautiously optimistic” after a second data center developer, Edged, promised to use a closed-loop system, which uses less water, to cool its servers. “It’s change,” he says. “But I’d rather be inside the process than standing on the outside saying no.” 但沃尔特斯对此持乐观态度。他已经出租了数百英亩土地用于安装太阳能电池板，并签订了合同为数据中心供应可再生能源。他说，在好年景下，一英亩玉米可能净赚 100 美元，而一英亩用于太阳能的土地可以产生数千美元的收益。尽管他经营着一家威士忌酿酒厂（纯净水对酿酒至关重要），但沃尔特斯表示，在第二家数据中心开发商 Edged 承诺使用耗水量更少的闭环系统来冷却服务器后，他感到“谨慎乐观”。“这是变革，”他说，“但我宁愿参与其中，也不愿站在外面说不。”