But, in an acknowledgement of growing public scrutiny, they added “this does not mean a blank cheque for Big Tech or that every data center should be approved,” and said “developers must plan to use clean power, use water responsibly, create British jobs and supply chains, and provide investment to the communities in which they are built.”
Political opening
Labour’s AI Minister Kanishka Narayan has said data centers can form part of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s mission to reindustrialize and bring growth to different parts of the country while boosting the U.K.’s resilience and complying with green goals.
James Meadway, who previously advised former left-wing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and now leads Verdant, a Green Party-aligned think tank, said the Labour government had been “a massive enthusiast of data centers.”
In contrast, he said the Greens “have a relatively distinctive position to stake out here, which, frankly, matches the public mood.”
He said Polanski’s party could capitalize on public concern about data centers — whether for environmental reasons, moral objections to Big Tech or because the plants are an “eyesore” — and build on local opposition campaigns to “make the issue their own.”
Citing the senate race in Texas — where Democrat candidate James Talarico has managed to win support from traditionally Republican voters with his stance on data centers — Meadway said the issue provided a way for the Greens to reach new voters.