Data Center

In a Divided America, Left and Right Unite to Oppose Data Centers

From Nebraska to New Mexico, the debates raging in cities and towns against data centers often cut across ideological lines.

Associated Press

Associated Press

— 8 min read
In a Divided America, Left and Right Unite to Oppose Data Centers
Photo of protesters gathering outside the New Mexico Environment Department to voice opposition to the Project Jupiter data center during a demonstration in Santa Fe, N.M., Aug. 21, 2026, by Susan Montoya Bryan/AP

MURDOCK, Neb., Aug. 26, 2026 (AP) — In rural eastern Nebraska, a technology revolution could rise from fields of corn and soybean in the form of new data centers to power the artificial intelligence boom.

But just like around many parts of the country, opposition has been building in ways that defy typical partisan boundaries. Conservative farmers and the state Sierra Club chapter recently found common cause against labor leaders as they filled the firehouse in Murdock — population around 275 — to share concerns about data center development moving too quickly.

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Data Center Sierra Club Nebraska Donald Trump China Tenaska Leighton Elise Eusebio CyrusOne New Mexico Project Jupiter Samantha Barncastle Salopek Doña Ana County Commission Oracle Center for Biological Diversity Jesus Rodriguez Mike Gage Chris Backemeyer Mike Johnson Kathy Hochul Greg Abbott Chuck Gray Paige Cognetti AP AI

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