This is the missing context for NIMBYism. The legal mechanisms used to stall construction in San Francisco were created because of an explicitly racist plan to demolish people’s homes to build freeways. The people building datacenters should stop, take a breath, and think a few moves ahead about how to get to real agreement and mutual benefit with surrounding communities instead of just driving a truck over them. Nobody’s going to be happy with the consequences.

Other datacenter concerns in other communities?

- water usage

- water pressure

- water contamination (from evaporative cooling towers concentrating metals)

- purple pipe water

- heat waste from air cooling

- corrosion from evaporative cooling

- decibel levels (due to 60 Hz AC, air cooling fans, evaporative coolers,)

- electronics recycling

- non-sustainable and near-conflict chip inputs

- PFAS in waste process water

- energy usage

- emissions from nonrenewable electricity sources

- compact fast diesel for the generators

Constraints to solve within would help solve.

Has capitalism ever stopped and thought instead of hitting full throttle at any cost?