Data centers: We have met the enemy and they are us

The massive build-out of data centers recently has aroused the wrath of the American public across the political spectrum. However, this backlash has highlighted a sharp disconnect in modern society: On the one hand, we expect technology to provide us with an on-demand, 21st-century digital lifestyle, but on the other, we eschew the infrastructure required to provide us with the means to implement our way of life.

The enormous scale of the newest data centers is difficult to comprehend. The largest data center for Meta (Facebook) in Oregon presently comprises 4.6 million square feet across 11 connected buildings.

But that is nothing compared to Meta’s new center in Louisiana that will cover 3,650 acres (about six square miles), a footprint that is almost four times the size of New York City’s Central Park.

The environmental impact of data centers is significant: They require huge amounts of water for cooling; most have their own generators that rely either on their own natural gas turbines or the electric grid (often with diesel generators for back-up) that contribute to air pollution; and the industrial cooling systems and rooftop fans create a constant level of noise.

However, using Meta as an example, hundreds of millions of Americans use Meta’s platforms — Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp — not merely daily, but on a constant basis, 24/7.

Americans also rely on the other companies with huge data centers, most notably Amazon for our shopping and Alphabet (which owns Google and YouTube) for our information and entertainment.

To be sure, the trillion-dollar tech firms building these data centers must be required to do more to reduce their impact on local communities and the environment.

But in the end, we have to admit a basic truth: Data centers exist because of our insatiable need and desire to click…click.. click…