The cloud vs. clouded leopard: America's data center backlash on display at Nashville Zoo
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ZDNet
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In Nashville, Tennessee, folks are worried about the clouded leopards.
The cats are a rare and vulnerable species found in countries like Nepal and Bangladesh. Although conservationists are trying to breed them in captivity to ensure their survival, it's been tricky -- the leopards are sensitive to sound.
News broke in June that a proposed 69,220-square-foot data center could live on the land just behind the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere , which has a breeding program for the animals. Now, Nashvillians are joining communities across the country in fighting incoming data centers.
More than 385,000 people have signed a Change.org petition, and the conflict has made national headlines. Even country star and Nashville staple Brad Paisley posted a video , calling the project a "monstrosity" and an "absolute nightmare scenario."
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The bare outline of the conflict -- community versus data center -- sounds increasingly familiar. Towns in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and so many more are grappling with what could happen to their communities when a data center moves in -- and how little say they might have in the matter.
But this particular showdown stands to put a furry face on some of the worst fears people have about data centers. From sound and environmental pollution to the regulatory chaos that ensues as local governments hustle to update zoning policies, it's not hard to see why a national audience has its eyes trained on the possible plight of a creature like the clouded leopard and the community around it.
"We can all visualize that," said Joe Szynkowski, founder of The UpWrite Group , and a PR professional who's worked with companies on crisis management. "That's what makes it powerful -- this poor little sad animal right next to a multi-billion dollar industry. I think that's a pretty easy story to tell."
One of the biggest concerns people have about data centers is environmental impact, including noise pollution. March data from the Pew Research Center found that 39% of Americans believe data centers are "mostly bad" for the environment.
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The zoo's concerns largely focus on how the building will affect its animals and their habitats.
"Constant noise from cooling systems and generators, and light pollution from bright security and operational lighting can dramatically affect animal behavior, disrupting their natural photo periods and rhythms. Stress on the animals from these factors can be detrimental to our conservation efforts, especially our clouded leopard breeding program," the zoo said in a statement posted to its website , evoking the vulnerable cats.
The Nashville Zoo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Atlanta-based company behind the proposed data center, DC Blox, said that it has heard the concerns raised around the project.
"Over the past decade, DC BLOX has safely operated data centers near neighborhoods, schools, daycare centers, and businesses throughout the Southeast with no complaints or health issues," the company said in a statement to ZDNET.
It also said it would use closed-loop or waterless cooling designs to conserve water, pay for power usage and new power infrastructure that may be needed, test and manage noise to locally required levels, shield light fixtures, and adhere to federal and local environmental regulations.
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"The proposed DC BLOX data center is not an AI factory but designed to be a communications facility needed to handle increasing regional internet traffic, critical infrastructure that depends on proximity to the people it serves," the company said.
But Nashvillians like Wes Hadley, who recently started a business focused on urban forest restoration, aren't convinced the possible environmental impacts are fully understood. Hadley also wrote a song about the situation, " Electric Zoo, " and posted it on social media.
"It's just a new example of a type of development that has an outsize environmental impact that I don't think we have regulations right now to appropriately charge back to the developers," he said.
Some of these costs are leaking out in local media.
Reporting from alt-weekly The Nashville Scene found that stormwater drainage outfalls from the data center would flow into stormwater infrastructure on the zoo's property. The zoo's system is already "impaired," The Scene said, and the additional runoff could exacerbate the problem.
In an article explaining further potential repercussions for the zoo animals, The Tennessean pointed out that a tributary of Mill Creek – home to an endangered crawfish – runs through the zoo. A zoology expert told the newspaper that polluted runoff could hurt the tributary and its crawfish.
"When they're building out these projects, the true cost of the development is not just the cost to build the building," Hadley said.
Like many other municipalities around the country, Nashville is also struggling to get its zoning policies in order, at a moment when the stakes and emotions are running high.
"If it wasn't next to the zoo, this would not be so … viral," said District 26 Metro Councilmember Courtney Johnston . "Everybody's all in an uproar, and so that's the challenge -- we are behind the eight ball with this."
Johnston explained that data centers are not defined as a land use in Nashville's zoning code. So when plans reached the zoning administrator, they were designated as "general office," which means no environmental review was required.
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There are already about 12 data centers in Nashville proper, according to the Data Center Map. The DC Blox project isn't the only controversy in town – residents of North Nashville have also started a petition opposing the construction of a data center on the campus of historic HBCU Fisk University .
Johnston has filed both a text amendment to the code to define data centers and a 90-day moratorium to halt development until that crucial bit of policy gets finalized. She is also challenging the zoning administrator's designation of "general office."
So far, there are 77 active moratoriums across the country, according to the US Data Center Moratorium Tracker . Meanwhile, 38 states have granted tax incentives to data centers, according to a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures , highlighting a potential misalignment of priorities and motivations.
"At the state level, at the utility level, they all want [data centers], but the local communities are the ones that have to deal with the fallout," said Ashish Nadkarni , IDC's group vice president and general manager for enterprise infrastructure.
Nadkarni thinks a possible solution would be for states to zone areas specifically for data centers, away from populations and places like zoos, on land where there would be fewer immediate harms of such development.
Perhaps such a plan could save local lawmakers the scramble.
"[We are] literally just trying to do everything that we can do to play catch-up and proceed with as much caution and responsibility as possible," Johnston said.
As AI has rapidly become dinner-table conversation, Szynkowski noted, for many, AI is a villain of sorts, threatening to upend the way they work, learn, live, and now, how they experience a community space like a zoo.
A Gallup poll from May found that 70% of Americans oppose AI data centers in their area.
"Data centers and AI companies, really in general, have a PR problem," Szynkowski said.
For community members, the contrast between the two sides of the debate appears stark.
"To see this proposed project literally feet away from the zoo felt to me almost like cartoon movie villain behavior," Hadley said.
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Beyond PR, Nadkarni underlined that capital forces drive the companies that build data centers.
"You can make an argument that we need data centers because this is in our national interest to differentiate with AI," Nadkarni said, "But then on the other side of it is that local populations also want a quality of life, and their quality of life not to be compromised."
That problem only compounds when community members feel they're not getting the whole story.
In addition to the initial one-story building, plans include a three-story, 40-megawatt data center building, a substation, as well as a guard house, according to The Nashville Scene , a revelation that's further riled up the opposition.
Despite all that, some folks like Hadley and Johnston aren't against data centers across the board -- they just want a thorough understanding of what's happening, time to prepare, and accountability along the way.
"The industry owes it to the community, to the local populations, to educate them on what they do and do not do," Nadkarni said.
Uncertainty might be yet another hallmark of the data center versus community battle. Johnston said it may be weeks before Nashville -- and everyone else -- knows the fate of the zoo, including those reluctant-to-breed clouded leopards.
Rachel Maack, a college student in Nashville, holds a zoo membership and visits two or three times a week, seeking some respite in what's an otherwise bustling "it" city.
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She's one of the 385,000-plus people who signed the petition, and she's checking the numbers as they climb.
"I think an easy line for people to draw is when it is actively affecting people and animals' well-being, and it's harder to see when we just talk about these numbers," she said. "Not everyone in the world has been to the Nashville Zoo, but I think everyone has experienced a place that feels safe and brings wonder and learning to them, and those places are always worth protecting."
