arXiv:2611.16942 · v1

Data Center Governance Under AI Expansion Pressures

首次提交 2026-11-12 23:23

版本更新 2026-11-12 23:23

雷达观测 2026-11-13 14:15

摘要

The promised benefits of data centers are global, but their negative impacts are very much local, affecting the energy bills, aquifers and living environments of citizens across the United States. While governments and authorities have historically provided data centers with incentives such as tax credits and exemptions, AI's aggressive growth in scale has changed this dynamic, and recent months have seen them issue bills and file lawsuits in order to ensure that data centers remain a net positive influence on their legislatures. Existing pieces of federal legislation -- such as the Public Trust Doctrine, the Pollution Prevention, Clean Air and Safe Drinking Water Acts -- exist to manage natural resources, but their scope remains contested, and the current federal government's stance on competitiveness and growth of AI has put the onus on regional governments to endeavor to protect local resources. There are also state- and regional laws and regulations that are relevant for building and operating data centers since, in practice, they require substantial land, electricity, water, and infrastructure at a local level. Given this situation, communities are currently provided with the opportunity to raise their concerns regarding the potential negative impacts of how data centers are built and operated, and have existing regulations that can be used to put pressure on data center operators.