Stop Dirty Data Centers
Reducing the Harm of Data Centers
The NAACP has been working with communities across the country that stand to experience the negative impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. Using policy, the courts, and advocacy, we are committed to making sure the harms to residents and the environment don't outweigh the proposed benefits.
Our 2026 Recommendations for Protecting Frontline Communities
As data centers expand, communities across the nation face new environmental and climate justice challenges including water contamination and depletion, air pollution, excessive energy use, quality of life concerns, and inequitable siting of the development. Guided by the NAACP Frontlines Framework, coalition partner recommendations, and the regional breakout sessions from the NAACP's Stop Dirty Data Convening, this plan builds a proactive approach for a united front for local leaders, advocates, and organizers to build power, demand transparency, and protect community health through grassroots action and policy advocacy
Community Benefit Agreement Template and Resources
An AI Data Center is Moving in: Now What? These resources provide communities with clear guidance and templates that can be adapted to negotiate strong, enforceable Community Benefits Agreements - ensuring transparency, accountability, and fair investments while securing the legal and technical support needed to protect community interests. While these documents do not constitute legal advice, we recommend reading the documents and recommendations together prior to negotiations.
Protect Your Community
We want to hear from you. Report any signs, announcements, or concerns that a new data center may be planned, proposed, or constructed in your community. Your report helps us track developments, support local advocacy, and coordinate national strategy.
Data Centers and Their Impact
Did You Know? AI and the Environment
AI data centers are built to process requests from large language models - like ChatGPT - that use more computing power. Data centers increase air pollution and decrease water quality, as water must be removed from local water cycles. By 2030, data centers may consume as much as 12% of all U.S. electricity.
Fact or Fiction?
Are AI data centers creating long-term jobs? Are off-grid data centers better for the community? Take a look at how we debunk these statements and provide more information on how data centers impact your community.
Advocacy in Action: AI Data Centers in Our Community
The NAACP has studied the impact of data centers on communities in Alabama, Indiana, Maryland, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Learn more about how we're fighting back on data center buildouts, especially those near Black neighborhoods.
The Dirty Truth of AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cloud Computing has revolutionized how we live and work. But the dirty truth is that the warehouses full of computers that power AI threaten the progress we've made to protect people from pollutants.
Tech companies and the billionaires who own them must be held accountable. As the country continues to progress in AI, we must ensure that frontline communities aren't the ones paying the price.
Frontline Framework Community Guiding Principles
By signing on to the community guiding principles, you are making a commitment to advocate for your community and halt harmful data centers and/or to build cleaner alternatives.
In the News
NAACP leaders call for transparency and community involvement in data center
National and state NAACP leaders gathered in Fort Wayne, calling on residents to get ahead of potential conflicts over the Google AI data center. The event, part of the NAACP State Convention, focused on environmental justice, energy burdens, and community control over development decisions.
From Mississippi to Maryland, Black Communities Are Taking On Big Tech
When word spread through Bessemer, Alabama, earlier this year that a tech giant was eyeing hundreds of pine-covered acres at the city's edge, Benard Simelton's phone wouldn't stop ringing. The longtime NAACP leader had fielded calls about toxic air and shuttered steel mills before, but this, he said, was new to him.
AI boom fuels "environmental justice" fears in communities of color
Civil rights groups are increasingly concerned that AI's rapidly spreading physical infrastructure is deepening climate burdens for communities of color.