NYT: Pennsylvania becomes battleground in the AI data center backlash
nordicinst · x · 2026-09-02
The New York Times' Climate Forward reports on local backlash against the AI data center boom. The reporter visited the Ohio River in western Pennsylvania: a former coal plant is being converted into a gas-fired plant to power a giant AI data center, a nuclear plant a mile away sells electricity to Meta, and a former steel plant is becoming another hyperscale facility.
In a region scarred by boom-and-bust polluting industries, outraged residents are joining a swelling national resistance, while executives and labor leaders welcome the investment—illustrating the stark trade-offs communities face, worsened by how fast the projects move.
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