Poll: Data center opposition more important than competition with China

By Jon Styf
The Center Square

American voters believe building more data centers in the United States are not worth the potential strain on local electricity, water and infrastructure and that the negatives outweigh the importance for national security and competing with China, according to a new poll.

The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll found that 54% believe that data centers are not worth the strain while 29% said they believed that building more data centers in the United States is important for national security and competing with China.

The poll showed 17% were not sure.

The results come from a survey conducted by Noble Predictive Insights from June 1-4 and polled registered voters nationally via opt-in online panel and text-to-web cell phone messages. The sample included 2,585 respondents comprised of 915 Republicans, 1,013 Democrats, and 297 True Independents (Independents who, when asked if they leaned toward one of the major parties, chose neither). The margin of error is +/- 1.93%.

The poll was closest amongst those who voted for President Donald Trump, with 41% of Trump voters saying it is most important to compete with China and 44% believing that the costs are not worth the strain.

Among those who voted for Kamala Harris in the last presidential election, 63% said it was not worth the strain while 19% believed it was most important to compete with China.

Mike Noble, founder of Noble Predictive Insights, said that the idea that competing with China in artificial intelligence and data centers fell flat.

“I think that really goes back to that they haven’t done a good job with their messaging,” Noble said. “Even then, only 29% thought it was important for national security in that race with China.”

Foreign billionaires have provided funding upwards of $39 million to the anti-AI data center movement in the United States, according to an American Energy Institute report in April.

“The world we leave behind for our children and grandchildren will be a very dark one if a communist regime has technological dominance over the United States of America,” Founder, CEO and Chairman of State Armor Michael Lucci told The Center Square after the report.

Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute, said that report showed that data center opposition is not “organic or purely local” and that transparency matters with what the report showed.