A Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS) Statement
(May 2026)
Climate change is a key challenge of our time, with the rapid rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers casting this issue into sharp relief. AI and data centers simultaneously escalate ongoing oligopoly and the concentration of wealth.
According to one source, three corporate giants presently control about 58% of worldwide “hyperscale” capacity. Such magnitude of development is a major consideration in both environmental and socioeconomic impact. An announced merger of NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy would create the “world’s largest regulated electricity provider” for the purpose of serving Northern Virginia’s “Data Center Alley.”
A 40,000-acre data center approved in Utah is larger than Manhattan; behind this project is Canadian billionaire Kevin O’Leary. A proposed Nevada data center would siphon away electricity from 49,000 existing users in Los Angeles. Hundreds of data centers have been proposed, are under construction, or are already in operation across the US.
As in the 19th Century Industrial Revolution, artificial intelligence information processing and data management is of benefit to society as a whole. Simultaneously, substantial socioeconomic and environmental costs are produced. Ways must be explored and pursued to maximize the potential of AI and data centers while eliminating or minimizing their adverse effects. Large and justifiable public outpourings against data centers and the top-down fashion in which they continue to be imposed have been generated around the country. This growing opposition is deserving of active involvement and support.
CCDS endorses the “Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act” legislation introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to impose a national hold on data center construction until concerns are better identified and addressed. Further legislation featuring anti-trust provisions must be enacted in concert with expanded public ownership.
CCDS supports the rights of localities to exercise democratic control, free of corporate or top-down political interference, over the nature and purposes served by AI and data centers. For example, an Indiana coalition of 27 civic organizations have called for a statewide
moratorium. Besides control over data center placement, size, and aesthetics, there must be strict limits on public surveillance, cryptocurrency, military applications and other anti-social uses. More than just involved with construction, operations, and maintenance, union labor must be at the decision-making table.
Resources for organizing and mobilizing campaigns around AI and date center issues can readily be found online. CCDS urges members and supporters to get involved, if not already. All matters of far-ranging consequence to the future of the planet and the public interest must be subject to popular will and democratic control.