Last week’s U.S. midterm congressional elections have highlighted just how strong opposition to data center construction has become — and Japan is unlikely to be immune to a similar public backlash amid legal loopholes and a recent rush to build artificial intelligence infrastructure.U.S. voters clearly expressed skepticism about energy-guzzling data centers and their impact on electricity prices. Recent polls by energy news platform Heatmap Pro and the Associated Press both showed that more than 70% of respondents opposed building new data centers in their areas, contributing to a “blue tsunami” of Democratic victories.Tetsuharu Oba, a professor of urban planning at Kyoto University who researches data center issues, says Japan should move quickly to find solutions for growing friction between residents and data center developers.
Japan not immune to public backlash against data centers, experts say
Last week's U.S. midterm congressional elections have highlighted just how strong opposition to data center construction has become.
In brief
Last week’s U.S. midterm congressional elections have highlighted just how strong opposition to data center construction has become — and Japan is unlikely to be immune to a similar public backlash amid legal loopholes and a recent rush to build artificial intelligence infrastructure.U.S. voters clearly expressed skepticism about energy-guzzling data centers and their impact on electricity prices. Recent polls by energy news platform Heatmap Pro and the Associated Press both showed that more than 70% of respondents opposed building new data centers in their areas, contributing to a “blue tsunami” of Democratic victories.Tetsuharu Oba, a professor of urban planning at Kyoto University who…
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