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Amid an unprecedented energy crisis and the rapid buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure, progressive lawmakers have unveiled a new policy to place a moratorium on the construction of AI datacenters.
The policy, announced by Bernie Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a New York Democratic representative, on Wednesday morning, aims to ensure the AI boom protects the environment and communities, and benefits workers instead of harming them. A temporary ban, the lawmakers say, would give the US government time to create strong federal safeguards for AI, which is “affecting everything from our economy and wellbeing to our democracy, warfare and our kids’ education”.
“AI and robotics are creating the most sweeping technological revolution in the history of humanity,” Sanders said in an emailed statement. “The scale, scope, and speed of that change is unprecedented. Congress is way behind where it should be in understanding the nature of this revolution and its impacts.”
The bill’s official introduction comes as calls to halt AI datacenter expansion have gone from the margins to the mainstream. Since August 2025, towns and counties across the country – including in Missouri, Indiana, Georgia and North Carolina – have passed temporary bans on datacenter buildout. At least 11 states are now considering similar policies, according to Good Jobs First, a watchdog group tracking economic development.
In December, more than 200 advocacy groups led by the national environmental organization Food and Water Watch also sent House and Senate leaders a letter calling for a federal datacenter moratorium, citing concerns about the sector’s impacts on electricity bills and the climate crisis. Sanders became the first lawmaker to back their demand and it has since gained steam with progressive lawmakers such as Maxwell Frost, a Florida representative, and Pramila Jayapal, a Washington representative.
“A few months ago, when I proposed a moratorium on AI datacenters, it was perceived as a radical, fringe and Luddite idea,” Sanders wrote in a February statement. “Well, not anymore.”
Survey data shows Americans are increasingly worried about AI’s many impacts. A June 2025 poll found that half of US adults are more concerned than excited about its increasing use in daily life, while a December 2025 poll found 60% of Americans believe the sector should be better regulated to limit its potential negative effects on society.
Voters are also troubled about the effect of datacenters on increased utility costs and energy consumption, data shows. When a February poll asked participants to select the more concerning issue in randomized contests against datacenter-related issues, they selected utility costs 64% of the time and energy consumption 59% of the time.
Datacenters’ need for vast quantities of water to cool down equipment has also sparked controversy, especially in drought-ridden areas. So have the facilities’ climate effects. Though AI proponents claim the sector can help to lower emissions, an October report from green group Center for Biological Diversity estimates that if current trends continue, datacenters may account for nearly half of all US emissions from the power sector that current national climate targets allow.
Datacenters’ electricity demand is also raising electricity prices in some areas. One Bloomberg analysis found that some regions with especially high concentrations of datacenters have already seen power costs surge by 267% over the past five years.
Amid increasing worry about these costs, the Trump administration this month hosted tech executives at the White House to “pledge” that their companies will shield Americans from utility rate hikes tied to their datacenters’ growing energy demand. Critics say the pledges are unenforceable, and most Americans are skeptical of them, a March poll shows.
“We cannot sit back and allow a handful of billionaire Big Tech oligarchs to make decisions that will reshape our economy, our democracy and the future of humanity, said Sanders in his emailed statement. “We need serious public debate and democratic oversight over this enormously consequential issue. The time for action is now.”
The Vermont senator also spoke about the need for AI safeguards on the Senate floor on Tuesday night. “These multibillionaires are investing in AI and robotics because those investments will increase their wealth and power exponentially,” he said.
Mitch Jones, managing director of policy and litigation at Food and Water Watch, applauded the new proposal.
“We need a halt to the explosive growth of new AI datacenter construction now, because political and community leaders across the country have been caught completely off guard by this aggressive, profit-hungry industry,” he said. “It has yet to be determined if – not how – the industry can ever operate in a manner that sufficiently protects people and society from the profusion of inherent hazards and harms that datacenters bring wherever they appear.”
