Reports & Analysis
Beyond the “Wild West” and Moratorium:
A Bipartisan Framework for Smart and Responsible Data Center Investment
By Robert Wolf and Stephen Moore
American ingenuity, fueled by public and private investment, has transformed breakthroughs—from the locomotive and automobile to the computer and internet—into engines of growth, opportunity, and rising incomes.Building the infrastructure to lead in the rapidly evolving digital age is essential to America’s economic prosperity and national security.
Yet this buildout now faces a political firestorm from both the left and the right. Resistance to technological progress is nothing new; every generation confronts transformative technologies with a mix of optimism and fear.
Concerns about noise, water use, energy costs, traffic, pollution, and property taxes cannot be dismissed. Communities have legitimate interests and should not be expected to accept big tech companies dictating what happens in their towns and cities without their input.
The Path Forward: Federal Guidelines, Not a Free-for-All or a Freeze
This is why a middle-ground move forward position is imperative – NOW.
American history offers a useful lesson: transformative technologies rarely arrive without disruption as well as varying levels of skepticism by the public. Railroads shortened travel, expanded trade, unified the country, and standardized time—but also raised concerns about safety, land use, public subsidies, monopolies, and lost jobs.
