Democrats Rally Against Data Centers Like They’re the New Coal Plants

KEY POINTS

•Climate Power, backing Democrats, sent a memo in August 2026 advising the party to leverage decreasing public support for data centers.
•The memo critiques Trump and Republicans for supporting AI data centers, calling out increased energy costs and environmental harm.
•Despite the memo, GOP candidates like Michigan's Mike Rogers and Texas' Greg Abbott have pushed some data center restrictions.

Climate Power, a Democratic-friendly climate group, has leaked a memo hotter than a server farm in Texas summers, warning 2028 Democratic hopefuls to jump on collapsing data center popularity faster than Trump’s approval in a viral Trump-Michael Cohen interview. The memo spells out how public opinion on AI data centers is 'cratering'—because who knew fridges and clouds needed so much air, water, and electricity? Democrats are urged to campaign with slogans like 'Tech companies should pay their bills,' while accusing Trump’s Republicans of handing these data centers a 'blank check to jack up utility bills and poison the air.' Yet irony abounds: some GOP candidates like Michigan’s Mike Rogers back temporary construction bans, and Governor Greg Abbott plays both sides like a fiddler at a Texas barbecue. Jesse Lee, Climate Power’s senior adviser, insists Trump 'owns the party’s position' and GOP Congress would become 'an army for data centers.' Meanwhile, the Democrats juggle between enforcing guardrails or blacklisting these digital energy hogs before the midterms and 2028. And yes, this spicy memo has been shared with all the Democratic heavy hitters except who exactly—because if it’s 'pretty much everybody,' that means even the candidates still arguing where the damn cords go.