With the rapid development of artificial intelligence, the number of data centers in Latin America has surged, especially in arid regions. However, as construction progresses, concerns from communities about their environmental impact are increasing. According to Paz Peña, a researcher at the Mozilla Foundation, governments across Latin America are actively attracting foreign investment, promising preferential policies for data centers, but related environmental regulations have not kept pace.
Image source note: The image is AI-generated
Taking Chile and Brazil as examples, these two countries are vigorously developing data centers. In particular, Chile has seen strong opposition to the construction of data centers. Peña pointed out that the Chilean government is relaxing the environmental assessment standards for data centers, preventing communities from accessing information about the environmental impact of these facilities. In particular, data centers often rely on diesel generators, and the Chilean government recently changed the assessment criteria, allowing data centers to bypass strict environmental impact assessments.
Many community members are angry about the lack of government transparency, especially when they discover that the plans for data centers do not adequately consider the voices of local residents. Peña mentioned that when communities seek more information, they often face the "corporate confidentiality" excuse from the government, forcing them to resort to legal means to obtain information. For example, in Uruguay, local residents questioned Google's data center project in Montevideo due to water shortages and eventually successfully obtained the required information through legal channels.
When facing the construction of data centers, communities are not always viewing big tech companies as enemies, but rather as an opportunity to improve environmental standards. Although data centers are large in scale, many community members have accumulated extensive experience in environmental struggles and show a strong willingness to fight.
Key Points:
🌍 Communities are concerned about the environmental impact of data center construction and call for government transparency.
💡 The Chilean government has relaxed environmental assessment standards for data centers, triggering widespread protests.
⚖️ Communities use legal means to obtain information, and some members view big tech companies as an opportunity to improve the environment.
