Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the global economy, strengthening national security and redefining geopolitical competition. The hyperscale data centers that power AI are becoming as foundational to this century as railroads and interstate highways were to the last.
The Trump administration has made American leadership in AI a priority, accelerating permitting, securing energy supply and clearing barriers to critical infrastructure. That urgency is warranted. China has committed more than $125 billion to artificial intelligence, advanced computing and the energy systems needed to dominate emerging technologies. Beijing understands that whoever controls AI will shape markets and military capability for decades.
If the United States hesitates, China will not.
But speed without discipline invites backlash, and that backlash can quickly harden into delay, litigation and sometimes outright prohibition.
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Across the country, AI data center projects are encountering growing resistance. In 2025 alone, at least 25 projects were canceled, four times more than the year before, eliminating gigawatts of planned capacity. Nearly 100 projects nationwide are now contested. Opposition spans party lines, from rural landowners to environmental advocates to ratepayer groups worried that rapid AI expansion will drive up electricity and water bills for local families.
In many communities, the central fear is straightforward: Big Tech will profit while residents pay higher utility costs.
In December, more than 230 environmental organizations urged Congress to impose a nationwide moratorium on new data center approvals. A moratorium would freeze investment, stall innovation and hand China a strategic advantage.
At the same time, community concerns are legitimate. Residents want to know whether data centers will strain local grids, raise electricity bills, increase water rates, divert scarce supplies, consume farmland or wildlife habitat, and overpromise economic gains. When those questions are not addressed early, delay becomes the norm and cancellation the outcome. Nearly 40% of heavily contested projects ultimately fail. At a time of intensifying global competition, that kind of self-inflicted drag is a strategic mistake.
The choice is not between heavy federal regulation and ignoring local concerns. There is a better path rooted in market discipline, transparency and voluntary standards.
Voluntary standards are not a concession to opposition; they are a strategy for sustaining durable public confidence, what some call a “social license to operate.” In a democratic system, infrastructure depends not only on permits but on continued public trust.
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America learned this lesson during the early years of the shale natural gas boom. Producers that improved water stewardship, reduced air impacts and engaged communities early were able to continue development. Where public confidence collapsed, moratoria and bans often followed. Trust, once lost, is far more difficult to rebuild than to establish from the outset.
AI infrastructure now faces a similar inflection point. If projects move forward without clear performance commitments, they risk becoming politically untenable. But if developers adopt credible, independently verified standards early, they can reduce uncertainty, limit conflict and accelerate responsible buildout.
Encouragingly, federal policymakers are exploring voluntary compacts with leading AI infrastructure providers. That model of partnership, rather than prescriptive mandates, can create national consistency without freezing innovation.
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Developers should adopt independently verified standards for responsible AI infrastructure, with clear benchmarks for energy reliability, electricity affordability, water stewardship, responsible siting, community engagement and transparency. Congress and federal agencies can reinforce this approach by recognizing credible voluntary standards in permitting and infrastructure planning.
Energy reliability and electricity affordability must come first. AI infrastructure cannot destabilize regional grids or shift rising power costs onto working families and small businesses. Projects must demonstrate that new demand will not force rate increases or undermine long-term grid stability.
Water use must be addressed candidly, particularly in arid regions. Developers should show that operations will not increase local water rates, crowd out existing residential or agricultural needs, or strain long-term supply security.
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Responsible siting should prioritize industrial or previously disturbed land and, where possible, avoid sensitive habitats. Where practicable, projects should incorporate forested buffers to soften visual impacts and protect neighboring land uses. Communities deserve early engagement, not assurances after permits are filed, and commitments should be subject to independent verification rather than glossy sustainability reports.
This approach does not expand federal bureaucracy. It aligns market incentives with community trust and reduces litigation risk. It allows projects to move faster precisely because concerns are addressed upfront rather than in court.
America has learned that infrastructure without public confidence leads to paralysis. After years of delay in energy projects, lawmakers are only now restoring momentum through permitting reform. We should not repeat the cycle with AI.
AI will shape the next generation of prosperity and security. America must build the infrastructure to power it with speed and discipline. If we do not, China will.
Brent Fewell serves as general counsel of ConservAmerica. He previously served as principal deputy assistant administrator for the Office of Water at the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
