r/ThePeoplesPress

The American public has soured even further on local data center development since the spring, new polling shows.

Three-quarters of Americans now say that they would oppose a new data center being built near where they live, according to a new Heatmap Pro poll conducted by Embold Research, and more than six in 10 Americans say they would strongly oppose such a facility.

That’s by far the most negative response since Heatmap Pro started asking Americans about their receptivity to data centers roughly a year ago.

If you can think of a major demographic of Americans, there’s a good chance they wouldn’t welcome a data center in their area. The shift against the facilities is represented across age, race, gender, income, party ID, and the rural-urban divide. Data centers are 43 points underwater with Republicans, 65 points underwater with independents, and 75 points underwater with Democrats.

Notably, local data centers are 63 points underwater with rural voters, a group that has skewed more Republican over the past decade. Urban and suburban voters are only a few points more supportive of the facilities.

What’s most remarkable is the pace of change: We’ve polled this same question four times in the past 12 months and haven’t altered its wording once — yet Americans have swung a remarkable 33 points against data centers in the intervening time. It’s a faster and deeper shift in American public opinion than I would have once thought possible on any issue.