UK Green Party leader leads anti-data center push as AI firms lose narrative war

The anti-data center sentiment has a new face in the UK as of Friday, after Green Party leader Zack Polanski pressed the UK government to hit the brakes on letting new data centers go up in England.  

Polanski called out the “negligible and negligent” attitude of the Labour Party as he argued against putting extra burdens on households already living through drought conditions by setting them up in competition with multi-million dollar facilities for scarce water and power resources. 

Why the UK Green Party is fighting data centers

The UK Green Party is a major critic of the government’s 2024 decision to upgrade data centers to critical national infrastructure status, a designation that comes with extra state support, among other perks. 

The Greens say they are fighting to avoid a future in which these energy- and water-guzzling facilities take priority over homes for water and electricity in the event of a shortage. 

The UK is in the middle of a summer drought, which the Green Party claims has left three-quarters of the country scrambling for consistent water supply.

Polanski told the BBC at the proposed site for an East London data center that the government should “slam the brakes” on approving large data centers. Instead, the party leader proposed only allowing small facilities that actually serve their immediate communities. 

Speaking to LBC, Polanski said data “should serve people, not the other way around.” The party leader accused ministers of riding “roughshod” over residents by failing to consider their opinions on planning. 

Pro- and anti-data center activists cite different numbers 

The data center debate is largely polarizing because statistics are cited and interpreted differently depending on the side of the aisle making the argument. The conversation is even more convoluted in the UK because operators don’t have to report water use. 

In February, the Water Research Centre estimated that data centers use roughly 0.2% of England’s non-household market, drawing about 1.9 billion liters of drinkable water per year. 

The Greens, on the other hand, cite research from the Global Action Plan charity, which concluded that a single large facility can use up to 1.5 million liters of water per day.

Industry stakeholders will deflect that leisure centers, golf courses and leakages are bigger wastage problems than data centers.

The Foxglove non-profit made the environmental case in an analysis reported by the Guardian earlier in the week. The report fingered the proposed sites in Wapseys Wood in Buckinghamshire and Quest Park in Bedfordshire as the ground zero for more than 4.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year once they reach full operating capacity, while drawing 1.3GW of power. 

That estimate overshadows the 3.9 million tonnes attributed to ExxonMobil’s entire UK operation in 2023, according to the thinktank Ember. 

Former Green leader Caroline Lucas called the projected emissions “absolutely horrifying.” Labour MP Toby Perkins, who chairs a Commons inquiry into the sector, said the findings were a reminder that data centers could pose “a serious threat” to legally binding climate goals without the right safeguards.

Westminster digs in, and the US looms

The government is not backing down. A senior Labour official told POLITICO that a pause “would be a disaster for jobs and national security,” warning it would push investment abroad and leave Britain reliant on overseas computing for sensitive health and defense data. 

The same official conceded the point was “not a blank cheque for Big Tech,” saying developers must use clean power, manage water responsibly and invest in host communities.

Polanski stopped short of a full moratorium, and analysts say British opinion remains warmer than America’s. Neil Ross of Public First told POLITICO that UK opposition is driven mainly by local and environmental worries, whereas US anger centers on household energy bills. 

That anger has produced moratoriums and pauses from New York to Texas, and a National Republican Senatorial Committee memo warned AI firms the backlash was sinking Senator Jon Husted in Ohio, as reported by Cryptopolitan. 

Verdant think tank’s James Meadway argued the Greens have found an issue that “matches the public mood” and could win them new voters.

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