Environmental Polling Roundup – September 4, 2026
Headlines
The Economist + YouGov – Americans continue to say that data centers are bad for communities and for the country on the whole, and Republican voters are at odds with Trump on the issue [Article, Topline, Crosstabs]
Public First + Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) – Solar and wind farms rank among the most popular types of local development projects, while data centers are the least popular [Release, Deck]
[NC] North Carolina League of Conservation Voters Foundation – North Carolina voters widely support expanding clean energy in the state and reducing reliance on fossil fuels [Release, Deck]
Key Takeaways
Americans are specifically resistant to data centers when they’re used for AI. We’ve noticed a trend wherein polls that ask about “AI data centers” tend to yield more opposition to them than polls that ask about “data centers” more generally. A newly-released poll by Public First and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation isolated attitudes about different kinds of data centers and confirms that Americans are particularly resistant to data centers that are used to accelerate AI technology.
While Americans, by double-digit margins, say that they support building more data centers in the U.S. for storing government data and for online banking, video streaming, and photo storage, they are much more divided on whether the U.S. should build more data centers to train AI models.
Polls that ask about Americans’ particular concerns about data centers almost always find that electricity costs are the public’s greatest specific concern. As this new data shows, however, attitudes about data centers are entangled with general unease about AI (a technology that Americans are deeply pessimistic about). The central actors behind the AI boom–including big tech companies–are also unpopular, and voters believe that these corporations wield outsized influence over politicians.
Understanding that all of these factors are feeding into the public resistance to data centers is important for leveraging public opposition into beneficial policy solutions, and also for engaging data center opponents in fights against other powerful corporate lobbies like the fossil fuel industry.
Republicans aren’t toeing the Trump line on data centers. One of the most remarkable aspects of the data center backlash has been how it has remained so bipartisan up to this point. In this era of negative political polarization, it is extremely rare to see partisans trending in the same direction on such a hot-button issue.
And as Trump has continued to embrace the data center buildout–even as many other Republicans have jumped ship–there is no sign yet that Republican voters are lining up behind him. The Economist and YouGov find this week that, while Republicans are relatively more amenable to data centers than other groups, most still say that they would oppose a data center in their area and a plurality of Republicans also say that data center expansion is a bad thing for the country overall.
Full Roundup
The Economist + YouGov – Americans continue to say that data centers are bad for communities and for the country on the whole, and Republican voters are at odds with Trump on the issue [Article, Topline, Crosstabs]
Only one in five Americans see the construction of new data centers as a good thing for the country. Further underlining how hostile the American public is to the data center buildout, The Economist and YouGov find that Americans are more than twice as likely to say that the construction of new data centers is a bad thing for the country (51%) as to say that it is a good thing for the country (20%).
A substantial segment of Americans are still on the fence about the topic, with 17% saying that the expansion of data centers is “neither good nor bad” and an additional 13% saying that they don’t know.
Americans of every partisan affiliation are more likely to say that data center expansion is a bad thing than a good thing for the country. Majorities of Democrats (14% good / 61% bad) and independents (13% good / 53% bad) believe that the data center buildout is bad for the country. And while Republicans have more mixed attitudes (31% good / 39% bad), a plurality also view the data center buildout negatively.
Americans across party lines continue to oppose data centers in their own areas. The Economist and YouGov find that Americans oppose new data centers being built in their communities by a greater than three-to-one margin (19% support / 63% oppose), with nearly half (46%) “strongly” opposed to the idea.
And consistent with all other public polling that we’ve recently seen on the topic, the poll finds that Americans of all partisan stripes are far more likely to oppose than support a data center being built in their community:
- Democrats – 14% support / 71% oppose
- Independents – 15% support / 66% oppose
- Republicans – 28% support / 52% oppose
The majority of Americans believe that a local data center would increase their electricity costs, and nearly half believe that data centers lower property values. Impacts on electricity costs consistently stand out as Americans’ greatest concern about data centers. Here, The Economist and YouGov find that the majority of Americans (60%) believe that a new data center in their community would increase the amount that they pay for electricity. Just 13% believe that a new data center wouldn’t impact their electricity costs, and only 4% believe that it would lower their electricity bills.
Americans also worry that data centers decrease local home values. Nearly half (46%) believe that a new data center in their community would decrease the value of homes, while only 10% believe that it would increase local home values and 15% don’t believe that it would have an effect.
Democrats currently have modest edges in trust on data centers and AI. When asked to choose which party they trust more on these topics, Americans are seven points more likely to say that they trust Democrats (37%) than Republicans (30%) to handle data centers and also seven points more likely to say that they trust Democrats (37%) than Republicans (30%) to handle AI in general.
It’s unclear whether the Democratic advantages here represent real differentiation on these issues or are simply a reflection of general party strength, as the Democratic edges on these topics are nearly identical to what The Economist and YouGov find on the generic ballot for Congress (36% Democratic candidate / 31% Republican candidate). Research commissioned by Climate Power in April found that pluralities of voters didn’t trust either party to handle data centers or AI.
Public First + Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) – Solar and wind farms rank among the most popular types of local development projects, while data centers are the least popular [Release, Deck]
Americans are more likely to support than oppose local solar and wind projects, while data centers are uniquely unpopular. When asked whether they would support or oppose various types of new development in their community, Americans are generally amenable to solar and wind projects and are more resistant to data centers than any other type of development:
- New housing (e.g., apartments or single-family homes) – 58% support / 15% oppose (+43 net support)
- A new road or highway – 48% support / 18% oppose (+30 net)
- A new solar farm – 47% support / 22% oppose (+25 net)
- A new warehouse for preparing deliveries – 44% support / 23% oppose (+21 net)
- A new wind farm – 43% support / 22% oppose (+21 net)
- A new train station – 43% support / 25% oppose (+18 net)
- A new shopping mall – 42% support / 26% oppose (+16 net)
- A new office complex – 35% support / 25% oppose (+10 net)
- A new power plant or other electric infrastructure – 35% support / 33% oppose (+2 net)
- A new data center – 26% support / 46% oppose (-20 net)
These findings are consistent with other public polling that shows that local data centers are uniquely unpopular. Gallup, for example, found this year that Americans are more likely to say that they would oppose a data center in their area than a nuclear power plant.
Americans are particularly resistant to data centers that are used for AI. Public First and ITIF find that Americans have notably different reactions to data centers depending on what the data center’s stated use is. By double-digit margins, Americans are more likely to say that they would support than oppose the U.S. building more data centers for storing government data or for online banking, video streaming, or photo storage. However, Americans are split on whether the U.S. should build more data centers to train AI models:
- Data centers for online banking, video streaming, and photo storage – 42% support / 24% oppose (+18 net support)
- Data centers for storing government data – 37% support / 26% oppose (+11 net)
- Data centers used to train AI models – 31% support / 33% oppose (-2 net)
Emerging majorities of Americans say that data centers raise people’s electricity bills and deplete the water supply. Most Americans now believe that it’s true that data centers raise people’s electricity bills (58%) and that data centers deplete the water supply (55%). Around half (49%) also believe that data centers are bad for the planet.
Compared to earlier polling conducted by Public First in January, all of these beliefs have become far more common over the course of the year: the percentage who believe that data centers raise people’s electricity bills has increased by 15 points (from 43% to 58%), the percentage who believe that data centers deplete the water supply has increased by 21 points (from 34% to 55%), and the percentage who believe that data centers are bad for the planet has increased by 17 points (from 32% to 49%).
[NC] North Carolina League of Conservation Voters Foundation – North Carolina voters widely support expanding clean energy in the state and reducing reliance on fossil fuels [Release, Deck]
North Carolina voters have overwhelmingly positive attitudes about clean and renewable energy. The North Carolina League of Conservation Voters Foundation finds that voters in the state feel more positively about clean and renewable energy than any other energy source:
- Clean energy – 61% favorable / 6% unfavorable
- Renewable energy – 61% favorable / 5% unfavorable
- Natural gas – 53% favorable / 10% unfavorable
- Nuclear energy – 37% favorable / 19% unfavorable
- Fossil fuels – 30% favorable / 24% unfavorable
One notable finding here is that there is virtually no difference in voters’ attitudes toward “clean” or “renewable” energy, indicating that advocates can feel equally comfortable using either term in public communications.
Additionally, the poll finds that clean and renewable energy are popular across the ideological spectrum in North Carolina. Conservative voters in the state are 46 points more likely to have favorable than unfavorable attitudes about “renewable” energy and 43 points more likely to have favorable than unfavorable attitudes about “clean” energy.
Majorities of voters say that it’s important for North Carolina to increase its use of clean energy and reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. In another sign of North Carolina voters’ affinity for clean energy, nearly three-quarters (74%) say that it’s important for the state to increase its use of clean and renewable energy. A majority (63%) also say that it’s important for the state to reduce its reliance on fossil fuel energy sources.
North Carolinians are more likely to oppose than support the construction of data centers in the state. As in the rest of the country, data center development is an unpopular proposition in North Carolina: only around one-third of the state’s voters (33%) support building data centers in the state, compared to nearly half (48%) who oppose the idea.
North Carolina voters are much more likely to care about the impacts of data centers on electricity rates and water availability than on jobs and tax revenue. When asked to choose the three most important impacts of data centers to them, North Carolina voters are significantly more likely to prioritize data centers’ impacts on electricity and water than potential benefits like jobs or tax revenue:
- The cost of electricity in your area – Chosen by 58% as one of the three most important impacts of data centers
- The availability of clean drinking water where you live – 44%
- The overall quality of life in your community – 43%
- The local economy – 41%
- The local environment – 38%
- The reliability of electricity in your area – 36%
- The availability of good-paying jobs in your community – 36%
- The amount of tax revenue available for local schools and services – 28%
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