Trump Weighs 12 Data Centers on Public Lands
Trump Weighs 12 Data Centers on Public Lands
The News
The Trump administration is weighing far more data center construction on federal public lands than has been publicly known, according to an investigation published Friday by the Washington Sun.
The Bureau of Land Management is reviewing proposals for at least 12 data centers and data center-related infrastructure projects on federal land, the Sun reported.
The proposals cover at least 17,600 acres across six Western states.
The Numbers
At least 12 projects. At least 17,600 acres. Six states. All of it on land owned by the federal government and managed by the BLM.
Timeline
The Washington Sun publishes its investigation reporting that the administration is considering at least 12 data center and data center-related infrastructure proposals on federal public lands, "far more than previously known."
NOTUS carries the reporting, noting the proposals cover at least 17,600 acres of public lands across six Western states. Political Wire aggregates the same findings hours later.
Raw Story reports that residents in affected areas say they were kept in the dark about the plans, describing an "unholy alliance" between the administration and technology companies.
Reactions
Locals who would live next to the proposed sites told Raw Story they were blindsided, saying they had not been informed of the scale of what is under review. One characterization carried in that account called the arrangement an "unholy alliance."
Raw Story framed the effort as the administration quietly moving to hand stretches of America's public lands to billionaires and technology companies.
The Frank has not seen a public response from the Bureau of Land Management or the White House in the source reporting.
What's Next
The proposals sit with the Bureau of Land Management, which reviews applications to use federal land. Nothing in the reporting indicates the 12 projects have been approved.
Watch for BLM to open individual proposals to environmental review and public comment — the stage at which the affected communities would formally get a say, and the point where the acreage, water and power demands of each site become public.
More
The three accounts of this story come from across the spectrum — NOTUS in the center, Political Wire on the center-left and Raw Story on the left — and all trace back to the same Washington Sun investigation. Their agreed core: the number of projects under review is bigger than the public had been told.
Poll
Should the federal government lease public land for data centers?
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