Both Democrats and Republicans Are Increasingly Worried About AI’s Environmental Impact

There are currently 1,287 data centers in operation in the U.S., with more than 2,000 planned projects, according to Clearview, a market intelligence company tracking U.S. power infrastructure and data center development. Virginia and Texas currently have the most data centers in operation, but many new developments are planned in rural areas in the South and Midwest. The growth is driven by the rise in hyperscale data centers, which are larger, more powerful, and often used to train and run large-scale AI models.

Despite the boom, Americans seem to be increasingly supportive of measures to regulate growth. About 6 in 10 Americans said they would support limiting the number of new data centers that can be built—including most Democrats and Republicans—the survey found. 

Democrats seem to be the most concerned by the environmental impacts of data center growth.  About two-thirds say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about how AI will affect the environment, the poll found, compared to about half in 2025. By contrast, about half of Independents and 4 in 10 Republicans are highly concerned about the environmental impact of AI.