Concerns Over Fossil Fuel Investments in Data Centers
Holly Bender, Chief Program Officer of the Sierra Club, has expressed serious concerns regarding the data center industry’s accelerating reliance on fossil fuels. She emphasizes that the sector’s demand for rapid energy solutions is contributing to an unprecedented and troubling surge in investments tied to gas and other non-renewable sources. “This legislation contains numerous provisions that will facilitate the expedited construction of gas pipelines, while simultaneously diminishing community input,” Bender stated.
Potential Impact on Public and Tribal Lands
Another critical issue raised by opponents pertains to the likelihood of increased data center developments on federally-owned land. This initiative has found support within the Trump administration, highlighted by an executive order issued in July 2025. This directive called upon the Interior and Energy departments to make federal properties accessible for data center construction and to streamline related environmental assessments. “We’re going to ‘mine, baby, mine’ so we can ‘build, baby, build’ because we’ve got to build AI data centers,” remarked Interior Secretary Doug Burgum in 2025.
Recent studies indicate that at least 17 active applications for data center construction on public land are currently being processed, spanning thousands of acres across states such as Arizona, Idaho, and Nevada. These projects could be significantly expedited due to the provisions in the proposed BAAJA legislation, which may restrict judicial authority to pause construction based on environmental review processes, resulting in potentially irreversible impacts on surrounding ecosystems.
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