"In Virginia, the planet's largest proposed data center threatens local ecosystems"
"The pastoral landscape surrounding Manassas, Virginia, has been eyed by developers for decades—plans have been drawn up and then dashed for a shopping center, an interstate, even a Disney theme park. Despite these pressures, much of the region has retained its rural character. Butterflies visit clumps of wildflowers. Turkeys and deer stamp out muddy trails. Foxes dart in between clearings as they traverse the region’s forests.
It’s no accident that this bucolic scene of rolling hills, two-lane roads, and horse pastures still exists just 20 miles from downtown Washington, DC. In 1998, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors adopted a comprehensive plan to protect the area from the tentacles of urban sprawl creeping from the nation’s capital.
But no one foresaw the threat that booming technologies like cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence would pose to this rural enclave. Data centers already occupy 8 million square feet of space in the county. If all the proposed new data centers are built, that number could balloon to 80 million. Some advocacy groups predict that the amount of electricity these centers would need is enough to power five New York Citys.
One project in particular is accelerating that growth. In a December 2023 meeting, the board of supervisors approved the largest data center campus on the planet, a project called Digital Gateway, which will include 23 million square feet of data center space across 2,100 acres of former farmland. The energy to run such a ginormous facility could require about 750,000 homes’ worth of electricity, according to the National Parks Conservation Association. Owing to a lack of renewable energy, much of that will come from fossil fuels."
Ashley Stimpson reports for Sierra magazine with illustrations by Glenn Harvey September 12, 2024.
Advertisement 
