by BEN SOLIS
Michigan Advance

A rally is set for Tuesday as residents from across Michigan call on state legislators to enact a statewide moratorium on new artificial intelligence data centers, which supporters have said will waste Michigan land and water resources and exacerbate corporate handouts.

The rally is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 16 on the state Capitol lawn.

With the respective chambers of the state Legislature in session before the holiday break, supporters and organizers are hoping their voices will be heard and that they can find common ground with lawmakers who could help in their fight against data centers.

Plans for various data centers have been cropping up in rural areas, and there has been an outpouring of opposition from a wide swath of residents from both sides of the political aisle.

The protest and rally scheduled for Dec. 16 is being billed as a bipartisan affair and a unity event to build up the burgeoning anti-AI data centers movement.

Rally organizers on social media have said their main demands are for no secret deals between utilities, developers, the AI companies that would benefit from the data centers and local or state governments. They are urging local and state government officials to slow the process and not fast-track approvals, and for the deals to take place in public without non-disclosure agreements, redacted planning documents or backroom negotiations with big tech companies.

Also among their demands is a statewide moratorium on data centers, which advocates hope lawmakers will be able to push along – one of several reasons they’re flocking to Lansing next week.  Organizers are calling for land and water protections as conversations around approving new data centers intensify, and for rural community support as some feel they are being bullied or taken to court in attempts to silence the opposition.

Speakers are scheduled for the event, but the social media invites give no indication if any state government officials are scheduled to speak. The invites do indicate, however, that rallygoers will hear speakers from both political parties, community leaders and residents.

Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jon King for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.

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