Episode
Bay Area Communities Resist Data Center Boom
- Podcast
- KQED's Forum
- Published
- Jun 22, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3289
- Processing state
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Summary
Communities across the Bay Area, including Gilroy, Oakley and Pittsburg, are pushing back on new data centers in their cities. Data centers, which house the computing equipment and servers that power the internet, have been around for decades, but opposition to them has exploded as tech companies pour hundreds of billions of dollars into building thousands of new centers nationwide. Residents worry the facilities will suck up scarce water and electricity and pollute the environment to power the riches of AI investors. We’ll talk about the data center boom and how it’s playing out in the Bay Area. Guests: Molly Taft, senior climate reporter, WIRED Jonathan Koomey, researcher and scientist, Koomey Analytics; author, "Cold Cash, Cool Climate: Science-Based Advice for Ecological Entrepreneurs" Hema Sivanandam, East Contra Costa reporter, Bay Area News Group Britt Smith, Gilroy resident; activist and co-founder, Stop Gilroy Data Center Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices