A united front of environmental groups representing all corners of the commonwealth on Wednesday in Hanover urged the state government to implement a statewide pause on all new data center permit approvals and connections to the grid until stricter regulations for water use, energy infrastructure, and siting are enacted.
Representatives from over a dozen organizations stood outside the Hanover Humane Society where a few hundred feet away, through a thin smattering of trees, a hyperscale data center was being built. The facility was permitted by-right, meaning there were no public hearings or votes before supervisors gave it the green light.
“Here in Ashland, Big Tech swoops in, pulls the wool over our eyes and breaks ground before we’re able to fight back,” Blair St. Ledger Olson with the Virginia League of Conservation Voters said…