A panel this week placed a temporary halt on a controversial data center planned for public land in Nevada. The project, by Townsite Solar, was approved by the Bureau of Land Management – and seen as a test case for such projects on public lands.
Officials in neighboring Boulder City, along with environmental groups, said in a complaint to the Department of the Interior that the BLM granted approval for the data center without conducting proper environmental studies and public input. The Interior Board of Land Appeals issued a “stay” that halts construction as the appeals process plays out.
“It’s sort of become an emblem of this new frontier in the fight against data centers,” said Patrick Donnelly with The Center for Biological Diversity, anon-profit that is one of the environmental groups in the process…