Parthasarathy: Opposition to data centers is accelerating as an election issue

August 28, 2026 Gray Broadcasting

University of Michigan Public Policy Professor Shobita Parthasarathy said opposition has grown in recent months.

"Opposition began. But it has really accelerated, I think over the last I would say even just six months," Parthasarathy said.

She said she thinks data centers are a proxy for broader concerns about artificial intelligence and inequality and that the issue may drive some voters to the polls.

"People are just sort of increasingly alienated, alienated, fed up and and as I said, exercised by it in a way that I've never seen before. So I think it's entirely possible that they could be motivated to go out to vote on that issue," Parthasarathy said.

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