Local Environmental Impacts of Data Center Proliferation

• Pages: 10131-10145
• Date: 01 March 2025
• Published date: 01 March 2025
• Author: Reid Lifset,Pranava Raparla,Amy Stein,Lauren Bridges,Jim McElfish,Tim Cywinski
• Subject Matter: Environmental Law

MAR/APR 2025 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 55 ELR 10131

DIALOGUE

LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS

OF DATA CENTER PROLIFERATION

Demand for data centers is increasing worldwide, raising questions about the electric grid, the transition to

renewable energy, and distribution infrastructure. Northern Virginia is home to data centers that process

nearly 70% of global digital traff‌ic, leading off‌icials to call for construction, at ratepayers’ expense, of new

power plants and new transmission lines across four states, as well as the continued operation of coal-pow-

ered plants that had been scheduled to go of f‌line. On December 6, 2024, the Environmental Law Institute

and the Network for Digital Economy and the Environment co-hosted a panel of experts who examined the

environmental impacts and policy implications of data center growth and the consequences for residents of

Virginia and nearby states. Below, we present a transcript of that discussion, which has been edited for style,

clarity, and space considerations.

SUMMARYSUMMARY

Reid Lifset (moderator) is a Research Scholar at the Yale

School of the Environment.

Pranava Raparla was a Presidential Innovation Fellow at

the U.S. Department of Energy.

Amy Stein is the Cone Wagner Professor of Law at the

University of Florida Levin College of Law.

Lauren Bridges is an Assistant Professor in Media Studies

at the University of Virginia.

Jim McElsh is a Senior Advisor at the Environmental

Law Institute.

Tim Cyw insk i is Communications Director at the

Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club.

Reid Lifset: Increasing digitalization of our economy

and the dramatic development of articial intelligence

(AI) have produced rapid growth of data centers and an

attendant increase in demand for electricity. is, in turn,

has engendered debate and concern about the adequacy

of energy supply and the contribution of data centers to

greenhous e gas em issions.

is has prompted national and international research

and policy attention. Local environmental impacts arising

from the growth of data centers—including air pollution,

water consumption, and land use —despite expanding

press coverage, have not been extensively explored. To take

just one example, in reviews of academic research litera-

ture, only a very small ha ndful of studies of loca l environ-

mental impacts of data centers were found.1

1. See Network for the Digital Economy and the Environment, Bibliography,

https://bit.ly/nDEE-bibliography (last visited Mar. 13, 2025).

is webinar has been orga nized by the Network for the

Digital Economy and the Environment2 and t he Environ-

mental Law Institute (ELI) to increase understanding of

the local environmental issues related to data center pro-

liferation. We focus on Northern Virginia because of the

density and increase in the number of data centers there.

Today, we’ve assembled a very impressive group of experts

on the topic of local impacts.

We’re going to sta rt with Pranava Raparla, who will pro-

vide an introduction to the growth in data centers in the

United States. at will be followed by Prof. Amy Stein,

who will give an overview of the energy situation related

to data centers. Prof. Lauren Bridges will discu ss the local

environmental impacts as related to water. Jim McElsh

will describe emerging trends regarding approaches that

local governments are tak ing on land use regulations and

other considerations relating to siting of data centers. Tim

Cywinski will provide an advocacy perspective.

Pranava Raparla: I a m a fellow with the U.S. Depart-

ment of Energy (DOE). I’m split bet ween, rst, the Oce

of Policy, where I focus on supporting our data center

engagement team at DOE to help build more and pro-

mote the growth of data centers in the United States pow-

ered by clean energy, and making sure that they are built

2. e Network for the Digital Economy and the Environment is a joint initia-

tive of ELI, the Yale School of the Environment, and the Center for Law,

Energy, and the Environment at the University of California, Berkeley. Its

goal is to catalyze and disseminate research on the environmental impacts

of the digital economy and to bridge the gap between research ndings and

their translation into policy. e network started in 2018 and is supported

by the Internet Society Foundation, the U.S. National Science Foundation,

and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. See Network for the Digital Economy

and the Environment, Home Page, https://www.networkdee.org/ (last vis-

ited Mar. 13, 2025).

Author’s Note: Pranava Raparla’s statements do not neces-

sarily represent the off‌icial views of the U.S. Department of

Energy or the federal government.