Country music legend Willie Nelson is speaking out against building artificial intelligence (AI) data centres across the United States.
In a statement shared to X on Tuesday, Nelson, 93, spoke about growing up in Abbott, Texas, and urged the community to “fight against data centers invading our land.”
“I grew up in Abbott, and I still have a home there with farmed land where I can still see stars at night,” Nelson wrote. “The last thing we need is a loud, water thieving, light polluting, data center anywhere near our town (or any others for that matter).”
“The strength of rural America has never come from big industrial footprints. It comes from generations of people, open spaces, local business, and a connection to the land,” he continued. “All of America deserves thoughtful stewardship that doesn’t steal farmland (where our essential shared-food is grown) and small family farmers’ livelihoods, and not data centers that only destroy the environment around them.”
Nelson encouraged Americans to “not allow our own demise,” writing, “Whoever controls food and water, controls the masses. Let’s not allow our own demise or give up control over necessary resources in the U.S. and especially in Abbott.”
Nelson’s comments come following a proposed development of as many as 56 data centres in Central Texas, 45 in West Texas and 86 in North Texas, according to the Texas Tribune.
The outlet reports that at least 248 data centre projects are planned across the state of Texas.
The environmental footprint of data centres already rivals that of some of the world’s largest countries, according to a United Nations University report, which also predicts their water and energy use and pollution will double in just four years as use of artificial intelligence grows.
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Last year, global data centres used 448 trillion watt-hours of electricity, more than all but 10 countries in the world, the report released in June said.
That electricity use produced about 208 million tons (189 million metric tons) of carbon dioxide, about the same amount as Argentina, and producing that much energy consumed about 1.2 trillion gallons (4.5 trillion litres) of water, according to the report on the environmental consequences of AI’s energy use.
—With files from The Associated Press
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