Tuesday, August 11, 2026

Destructive data centers could soon be popping up on federal lands and military bases near you

The Pentagon wants to turn public lands into infrastructure for AI-powered warfare.

Win Without War

Pamela, destructive data centers could soon pop up near you if folks like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have their way.

AI data centers bring noise, light, air, and water pollution, and create astronomical energy costs. It’s no surprise 63% of Americans oppose them being built in their communities.[1]

But tech billionaires and warhawks like Hegseth aren’t worried about all that. They see an opportunity to supercharge AI-powered warfare, and they’re demanding billions of dollars and hundreds of acres to build data centers across the country.[2]

Public lands should not be turned into sacrifice zones for an AI arms race — and we need to act now. Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act would BAN data centers and associated infrastructure on land owned or managed by the U.S. government, including on military bases.

It’s a necessary safeguard, and we need to push every lawmaker to go on the record: Will you protect communities from bearing the energy, water, pollution, and infrastructure costs that data centers bring? Or will you join with Hegseth and Big Tech to accelerate AI-powered warfare?

It’s going to take massive public pressure to push lawmakers to act. Tell your members of Congress to support the No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act today.

ACT NOW

The Department of Energy is currently pushing AI data centers at as many as 16 federal sites nationwide. The Bureau of Land Management has already approved the first AI data center on public land in Nevada. In too many cases the public has been shut out. Now, the Pentagon wants to power AI warfare with data centers across multiple military bases.[3]

If Hegseth’s demands are met, we’re all worse off. Think autonomous weapons, algorithms making life-or-death decisions, our water, land, and air destroyed.

“Our residents are choking on smog and already paying too much for their utility bills, yet the Trump administration wants to place heavier cost burdens on the shoulders of hardworking Americans. Our corrupt, AI-addicted President cannot be allowed to sacrifice our federal lands so that Big Tech oligarchs can get richer.”[3]

That’s what Rep. Tlaib said upon the introduction of the No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act, and we couldn’t agree more. AI data centers consume enormous quantities of water, strain already fragile power grids, and saddle nearby families with higher utility bills while Big Tech and private equity pocket the profits.

Communities have every reason to push back.

Our government should preserve clean air, clean water, protect wildlife, and create places where families can gather — not let our communities become industrial campuses powering dangerous software designed to take humans out of life-or-death decisions. Congress needs to hear, loudly and clearly, that we refuse to sacrifice our public lands to Big Tech or Pete Hegseth.

That's why we need as many people as possible speaking up. Tell your lawmakers to support the No AI Data Centers on Federal Lands Act and reject plans to turn public lands into infrastructure for AI-powered warfare.

Thank you for working for peace,
The Win Without War team


  1. Newsweek, "Americans Are Increasingly Turning on Data Centers"
  2. DefenseScoop, "DOD wants nearly $30 billion to modernize its AI supercomputing arsenal in fiscal 2027"
  3. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, "Rep. Tlaib introduces a bill to ban AI data centers on federal lands"
 
 
 

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