The right-wing boomers protesting data centers have a lot in common with the left

A small group of mostly older Florida residents protested a planned hyperscale data center in Hernando County, demanding a permanent ban even after commissioners had already approved a one-year moratorium on such projects. The fight shows how opposition to data centers is becoming a cross-ideological local movement, with residents focusing on community impacts rather than AI itself.

A person holds signs during a nationwide protest against AI data center expansion outside Peace Hall in New Port Richey, Florida. | AFP via Getty Images On a gray, humid Saturday morning in central Florida, a little under a dozen people gathered outside the Spring Hill Branch Library to protest the construction of a hyperscale data center in their community. There was no immediate threat - the Hernando County commission had unanimously approved a one-year moratorium on such developments in June - but the organizers weren't satisfied. A temporary pause wouldn't be enough. They wanted a ban. "We are going to fight, fight, fight," said a 71-year-old woman named Carol, who was manning a table with flyers and a petition the group, No Data Centers Hernando County, planned on presenting to the loc … Read the full story at The Verge.