Petition: Moratorium on AI Data Centres
Stand up to Big Tech, call on Premier Eby for an AI data centre moratorium.
We all deserve drinkable water, affordable energy, and a safe community — Big Tech is threatening our right to these basic needs with their relentless push for AI data centres to profit off the AI bubble.
These centres pump out harsh noise and pollution, while sucking up the fresh water and energy our communities need, all to make billionaires richer. That’s why 71% of British Columbians don’t want them built in their neighbourhoods.
Stand with the BC Greens and call for a moratorium on AI data centres to fully evaluate the risks, establish regulations, and protect local communities from harm.
Formal Petition text
To the Honorable Premier David Eby and Minister of State for AI Rick Glumac, in Legislature Assembled:
The petition of the undersigned, [Name], of [City or Town], states that:
Whereas:
- 71% of British Columbians oppose AI data centres in their neighbourhoods;
- AI data centres consume vast amounts of water and energy, while releasing harmful pollutants;
- Comprehensive regulations on AI data centres have not yet been established in BC;
- Other jurisdictions, including the Netherlands, New York, and Ireland, have demonstrated successful models of AI data center moratoriums and regulations;
Therefore, your petitioners respectfully request that the Honourable House introduce legislation to:
- Enact an immediate moratorium on the approval and construction of AI data centres;
- Develop a comprehensive, third-party report on the potential risks AI data centres pose for communities in BC, later evaluated by an all-party committee to determine all avenues necessary to protect communities from the harms of AI data centres;
- Enact regulations which include but are not limited to:
- Binding maximum usage and local offset plans addressing pollution (both noise and environmental), and water, land, and energy use;
- Utility rate protections for affected communities and public compensation for necessary grid maintenance and upgrades;
- Requirements for corporate actors intending to build AI data centres to introduce a Community Wealth Building plan to ensure local residents see immediate benefits from the construction and operation of this infrastructure;
- Public reporting of resource consumption, emissions, offsets, and public benefits of AI data centres;
- Fully-funded recycling and rehabilitation plans from corporations operating AI data centres for materials used in the operation of and for the land occupied by the centre;
- Prohibit public subsidies of any kinds (including tax breaks and grants) for AI data centres;
- End the moratorium once these regulations are in place.
Dated this [Day] day of [Month], 20[Year].
AI data centres serve corporate profits, not our communities. That’s why we need a moratorium.
You’ve seen the videos of these centres: massive warehouses in once-beautiful communities, pumping out harsh noise and pollution, while sucking up fresh water and energy, all to make some far-off billionaire richer. It’s a race to the top, where the only guaranteed loser is our communities. This is the threat we’re all facing, as our politicians make a mad dash to hitch our economy to the AI bubble and secure the profits of Big Tech CEOs.
Instead of regulating big tech to keep working people safe, our government is cheering as massive companies get elite access to our neighbourhoods, building facilities that will stretch our already failing water and energy supply, and offer next to nothing back.
Tech CEOs and our government make lofty promises, but none of them add up.
In Ohio, a data centre worth $136 million dollars only created 10 permanent jobs. AI projects drive up construction costs and suck up the skilled labour for projects we actually need, like housing. Our government is teaming up with TELUS, a corporation that broke the law to price gouge British Columbians for healthcare and that just lost 1000 terabytes of user data, to build data centres.
By signing our petition, you join the fight to:
✅ Enact a moratorium on AI data centres until they’re regulated.
✅ Strictly limit the amount of water and energy AI data centres are allowed to use.
✅ Create protections so that community wellbeing is prioritized over big tech.
Moratoriums and regulations on AI data centres are possible — they did it in the Netherlands and New York — and we can do it here.
[Sign now to say NO to AI data centres in your neighbourhood]