Finnerty uncovers dark reality of AI Data Centers

Our Take

Credit to Newsmax's Finnerty for putting two people with real expertise — attorney James Clifton and former USAF environmental specialist Kristen Meghan — in front of a national audience to talk about what it's actually like to live in the shadow of a hyperscale data center. Whatever your politics, the underlying complaint is the same one we hear from residents in Virginia, Georgia, and Arizona: wells running dry or turning cloudy, no clear answers from the company or the local utility, and a permitting process that moved faster than anyone's ability to object to it.

That's the pattern worth watching, not the partisan wrapper. These sites get approved through county boards and economic development deals that rarely require independent, ongoing monitoring of groundwater or air quality once the ribbon is cut. Residents are left to prove harm after the fact, usually without the resources of the company that built next door to them. When water rights and property values are on the line, "trust the process" isn't good enough.

If you want to see whether a facility like this is planned or operating near you, check our facility map, and if you're already dealing with water or health concerns tied to a nearby buildout, our take-action page has steps for documenting it and making your local officials answer for the deal they signed.