The full moon has just passed, Samhain is this weekend, and the veil is thin. Thin between our world and the next, our world and where our passed loved ones exist, thin between here and the Nether. Whatever two worlds you think the veil is thinning between, there’s another veil that’s been thinning. Call it the veil of patience, call it the veil of extreme anger and unrest. Call it whatever you’d like, but on one side is Big Data and AI, and the other is citizens fighting to keep their hometowns from being overrun by data centers and Silicon Valley wonks, and new legislation, and hype from looney toons like Elon Musk.
The veil between frontline communities and AI and data centers is thinning, but not from lack of local action. From Tucson, AZ, to Oakland, CA, cities are pushing back and passing moratoriums to keep AI data centers out of their cities. In more rural parts of the Bay Area, data centers have been fended off in small towns like Oakley, Richmond, and Pittsburg, CA (with populations of below 50,000 residents, just at 100,000 residents, and under 80,000 residents, respectively, according to 2020 US Census data), despite data center companies seeing small agricultural towns as easy targets.
Luckily, citizens all around the US aren’t spooked by Big Data trying to push into their backyards. They are standing firm in their dissent, standing on street corners with anti-AI and data center signs, and standing on business when it comes to their demands. Schemes to “greenwash” data centers by powering them with nuclear energy aren’t fooling people, either–the “double-jeopardy” of nuclear waste, pollution, and water consumption has grassroots groups in places like Schuyler County, NY, fighting both new reactors and data centers.
An Oakland, CA resident, Bryan Ortega (30), told KQED, “The intention is not good,” Ortega said. “I don’t think they’re opening data centers for any good reasons; it’s all capital gain (Kennedy).” The news article goes on to cite some of the smaller towns’ pushback, like in tiny Oakley. “In some cases, like in Oakley, the plan has been stopped in its tracks. The developer of a project that included the possibility of a data center pulled that suggestion after residents rallied against it. Soon after, Oakley council members implemented the Bay Area’s first ban on the centers (Kennedy).”
According to the local news outlet, The Oaklander, a small movement that started just last month, has grown to a full campaign across the city, even getting local businesses involved. The paper said, “According to the [data center] company, “the future use, tenants, building systems, cooling, and mechanical design for 415 20th Street have not been finalized, approved, or submitted for approval.” Big dreams for Big AI, but not a single thing they’ve proposed has even been approved—OR submitted for approval. I’m not a psychic, but that doesn’t seem like a great omen for Big Data in scrappy Oakland—next to their beloved Silicon Valley.
And in New Mexico, young activists are getting LOUD. Interviewed by Source NM, resident Alex Atcitty said, “AI and data centers are “extractors” that take more from the state and its communities than they give back, and are creating a crisis in New Mexico that requires more than a moratorium. “We are trying to be uncompromising with our rejection of AI. We do not want to stop halfway with guardrails or honestly even a moratorium. We want to push for a ban, [italics used for emphasis]” Atcitty said (Romero).”
As scary as an AI-generated human (hellooooo uncanny valley response!), citizens are showing that they aren’t scared to fight this battle—and win. Is it a David and Goliath situation? Perhaps. But fighting Silicon Valley and all of its “amazing advancements” forced upon us is just what we do. Sometimes our voices go unheard or uncared about. But for this moment in time, the US is rallying against the same enemy, and they won’t scare us away.
Works Cited:
Dean, Brian. “Data Center Moratoriums by State: Tracker and Statistics (2026).” Programs.Com, 28 Oct. 2026, programs.com/resources/data-center-moratoriums-tracker/.
Fuwad, Ahamad. “A Movement against Data Centers Gains Steam in Oakland.” The Oaklandside, 11 Sept. 2026, oaklandside.org/2026/09/11/data-centers-ai-oakland-protest-opposition/.
Kennedy, Samantha. “Some Oaklanders Opposed to Proposed Data Center.” KQED, 16 Aug. 2026, www.kqed.org/news/12095492/some-oaklanders-opposed-to-proposed-data-center.
Kraker, Dan. “Google Data Center Vote Postponed in Hermantown Following Two Hours of Protests.” MPR News, MPR News, 27 Oct. 2026, www.mprnews.org/story/2026/10/27/google-data-center-vote-postponed-hermantown-protests.
Romero, Leah. “New Mexico State University Students and Organizers Call for Statewide Ban on Data Centers • Source New Mexico.” Source New Mexico, 26 Oct. 2026, sourcenm.com/2026/10/26/new-mexico-state-university-students-and-organizers-call-for-statewide-ban-on-data-centers/.