Build efficiently. Build right. Prove it can be done.

New data centers should be built with the future in mind, so that every facility becomes cleaner, quieter, and more efficient throughout its lifetime. Data centers have a real environmental footprint, and communities are right to ask questions about energy, water and emissions. The standard for new development should be clear: use the cleanest and most efficient technologies available and continue improving over time. Little is said about what AI and the facilities that house it can do to support environmental progress.

Innovation and conservation are not mutually exclusive. AI is accelerating crucial planet-saving technologies, and expanding cleaner energy development that powers these functions.

Leading projects today use on-site clean power, recycled cooling water, and near-zero criteria pollutants—meaning cleaner air, minimal water use, and quieter operations for surrounding communities. These clean on-site power sources have set and must continue to be the standard.

AI is also paving the way for clean energy breakthroughs, so efforts to curtail modern AI infrastructure hinder the innovation needed to solve our planet's greatest environmental challenges.

Water has been a focus of attention since the early days of AI development. What many people don't know: significant progress has been made, and the data centers being developed today are embracing water-efficient innovation, including closed-loop cooling technology.

Data centers require massive power loads. Homes shouldn't have to compete with large-scale data centers for existing supply. New large-scale facilities should be required to be self-powered or bring new generation online rather than draw from existing capacity—and the leaders already are. Nearly one-third of all new data center capacity being planned today is designed to operate entirely off the public grid. Above a certain load threshold, that should be the standard.

AI and data centers are the single biggest drivers of new electricity generation in decades—nuclear, grid upgrades, fuel cells, and innovations not yet commercially available. They don't just consume power; they bring the investment capital communities and utilities need to modernize aging grids—potentially helping to reduce long-term electricity costs for consumers.

As data centers become more prevalent, the benefits to the communities they're built in should grow as well. The cleanest, safest technology must be the standard—shortcuts and dated technology won't build support. Communities must be active participants: data centers need local employees, and when citizens are part of the equation, facilities will thrive alongside the communities that host them.

Above all, responsible data centers are rooted in transparency. Communities must be part of the process from the beginning, and the companies behind these facilities must be held to the highest standards.

Community members also deserve access to reporting on energy and water use. Numbers kept in the shadows create resistance to progress. Fair community benefit agreements must become standard, with real commitments to addressing environmental and noise impacts.