NIMBY seems to have a hard time stopping data centers. Why do they have more success stopping renewables and rail?

Avicebron 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

If we put the same amount of economic pressure on rail that data centers have...the US would have probably have almost as nice infrastructure as China and be significantly better off.

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CharlieDigital 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

NIMBY is stopping data centers.

Maine set to become first state with data center ban: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/09/maine-data-center-ban.html

Also, it's a different kind of more insidious and visceral NIMBY rooted in racism and classism.

	▲	kavok an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Sure, it’s stopping some, but not most/all even with strong public opposition. See: https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/small-missouri-to...
	▲	ghaff 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev \| next [-]
		Not sure it's a bad thing. So, they would employ maybe 30 people after they're built. Consume a lot of power and water. I'd have to see the details of a specific proposal but I'd probably vote against personally.
	▲	WillPostForFood 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Yes, see the famous essay, Nimby Good When My Neighborhood by I Hyppocrit.

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kjkjadksj 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The public rail industry has no bribing mechanism unlike the data center industry and the fossil fuel industry. Did I write bribe? Sorry, “campaign contribution.” But sometimes also literally bribes like Tony Soprano cash in the bag.