Communities across the United States, many still bearing the physical and health scars of past heavy industry, are pushing back against a wave of proposed AI data centre construction in their neighbourhoods. In Philadelphia's Grays Ferry, activists such as Shawmar Pitts and Sonya Sanders of the group Philly Thrive, who grew up beside a since-shuttered oil refinery linked to chronic illness in their community, are campaigning for a citywide moratorium, arguing that promised jobs and economic growth won't offset the pollution and noise they fear data centres would bring.

City officials have identified two potential Philadelphia sites, including one in Grays Ferry, though no formal construction proposals exist yet. While a single data centre would likely be far less polluting than the old refinery, which processed up to 335,000 barrels of crude oil daily, the broader AI boom's energy demands are substantial: BloombergNEF projects US data centres will consume more natural gas by 2035 than Germany and Japan combined, almost double its estimate from nine months earlier, raising fresh environmental concerns even though natural gas burns cleaner than oil.