[nodesocket]

One reason is that politicians have vilified them for their own political means. Creating false narratives like they use huge amounts of water, when in fact the cooling is a closed loop system and use less water than a single busy restaurant. They are being used as yet another pawn piece to push inequity and climate change agendas. It’s been quite a successful strategy.

[mrexroad]

> Creating false narratives like they use huge amounts of water, when in fact the cooling is a closed loop system and use less water than a single busy restaurant

My understanding was that often multiple cooling methods are employed and the ratio of use shifts seasonally; however, that evaporative cooling was still primary method, especially in hotter climates like CA and AZ.

Can you help me understand what type of data center (size, location, etc) uses less water than a busy restaurant?

[nodesocket]

Microsoft CEO Nadella just recently said their Fairwater (315-acre facility in Wisconsin) only uses around the same amount of water as a single restaurant over the course of an entire year.

[konmok]

That is not a reliable source at all.

[cute_boi]

Data Center, right now, have more negative impact. So, lets not dismiss that.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/13/elon-mus...

[homeonthemtn]

So successful that data centers are everywhere? I'm not following the logic here.

[nodesocket]

25 data center projects were canceled in 2025, up sharply from only 6 in 2024. 2026 numbers gonna be dramatically higher. 69 jurisdictions have enacted some form of moratorium, ban, or restriction on new data center construction. The friendly states such as Texas are just going to have all the data centers and thus reap all the financial and job benefits.

[homeonthemtn]

I think you're being single minded about the reason people don't want them. Not everyone is hungry for giant construction projects regardless of the "jobs gain"