Environmental groups call for a moratorium on data center construction

VPM | By Jeff Brady

Published December 9, 2025 at 9:44 AM EST

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

More than 230 groups have signed on to a letter calling for a national pause on new data centers that power AI. They cite the risk of higher utility bills and environmental concerns. Here’s NPR’s Jeff Brady.

JEFF BRADY, BYLINE: The group Food & Water Watch drafted the moratorium letter to members of Congress as communities grapple with proposals to build the large energy-hungry campuses. Mitch Jones with the group says the country needs to pause and let regulations catch up.

MITCH JONES: And let’s figure out if it’s possible to do this in a way that is going to be safe for the environment, that is going to preserve water for communities, that is not going to drive up people’s already increasing electricity prices.

BRADY: Jones argues Congress could regulate data center construction by giving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, more oversight. Data centers use a lot of water for cooling. He says that’s another possibility for regulation. Or, he says, data center construction could be made subject to existing federal environmental laws. Other groups signing the letter include Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and Physicians for Social Responsibility. The industry group Data Center Coalition says halting construction would jeopardize digital infrastructure that’s essential to contemporary life and risk U.S. economic competitiveness.

Much of the fight over data center construction is before state and local governments. President Trump wrote on social media Monday that he plans an executive order to curb state laws limiting data center development, but that likely would be challenged in court. This call for a national moratorium on new data centers echoes a Food & Water Watch campaign from a generation back against hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas.

JONES: Well, we called for a national ban on fracking as well, actually, and had legislation introduced in Congress to do that on multiple occasions.

BRADY: That effort failed, and gas drilling is booming. Still, Jones says his group is talking with members of Congress, and he expects a bill for a data center moratorium soonish.

Jeff Brady, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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Jeff Brady

Jeff Brady is the Climate and Energy Correspondent on NPR's Climate Desk. He reports on the intersection of climate change and politics to reveal whether and how the U.S. is meeting its obligations to address the breakdown of the climate. And his reporting examines who's reshaping the energy system and who are the winners and losers. A key element of Brady's reporting is holding accountable those who block or stall efforts to address climate change in an effort to preserve their business.

Brady approaches stories from the consumer point-of-view to make clear how climate and energy policy-making affects individual lives. He has reported on gas utilities facing an uncertain future in a world more concerned about climate change, the long saga over the Keystone XL oil pipeline, the closing of a light bulb factory in Pennsylvania and how gas ranges pollute homes and make climate change worse.

In 2017 his reporting showed a history of racism and sexism that have made it difficult for the oil business to diversify its workforce. A union at the center of that reporting now faces a class-action lawsuit from its Black members.

In 2011 Brady led NPR's coverage of the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal at Penn State—from the night legendary football coach Joe Paterno was fired to the trial where Sandusky was found guilty.

In 2005, Brady was among the NPR reporters who covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. His reporting on flooded cars left behind after the storm exposed efforts to stall the implementation of a national car titling system. Today, the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System is operational and the Department of Justice estimates it could save car buyers up to $11 billion a year.

Before coming to NPR in September 2003, Brady was a reporter at Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) in Portland. He has also worked in commercial television as an anchor and a reporter, and in commercial radio as a talk-show host and reporter.

Brady graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Southern Oregon State College (now Southern Oregon University). In 2018 SOU honored Brady with its annual "Distinguished Alumni" award.

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