Story perspectives

Trump Orders Rapid Review of 12 AI Data Centers

By Drooid · Sep 19, 2026, 6:22 AM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

President Donald Trump’s administration is weighing 12 AI data centers on public lands in six states.
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is reviewing proposals on 17,600 acres in Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered BLM to flag lands “ripe for data center development” within three days.
Democratic Rep. Dina Titus introduced a bill requiring NEPA reviews, comment periods and hearings for public-land data centers.

Summary

Americans Oppose AI Data-Centers

Gallup poll finds 71 % of Americans oppose AI data-center construction, according to a 2026 release.
NYT/Siena poll shows 61 % of likely voters oppose data centers, including 45 % of President Donald Trump’s 2024 supporters.
Federal agencies label AI data-center resistance “anti-tech extremism,” per a May 2026 Wired report and National Security Presidential Memo-7.
Experts warn data centers could consume 720 billion gallons of water annually by 2028, burdening low-income communities.

History

Historical Context

Congress gave the Bureau of Land Management stewardship of 245 million western acres with the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act, mandating NEPA reviews. Decades later, the Trump administration offered millions of acres for low-price energy leases—some as cheap as $1.50 per acre in 2019—sparking Rep. Dina Titus’s 2024 NEPA-focused bill to curb new AI-data-center projects on public land.

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Story summary

President Donald Trump’s administration is weighing 12 AI data centers on public lands in six states.
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is reviewing proposals on 17,600 acres in Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum ordered BLM to flag lands “ripe for data center development” within three days.
Democratic Rep. Dina Titus introduced a bill requiring NEPA reviews, comment periods and hearings for public-land data centers.

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