Prop 45 could allow for data centers to bypass some environmental approval processes and fast track toward building, with less time for public scrutiny. Prop 45 also supersedes any existing laws that require environmental approval. Organizers say this is a problem because data centers use massive amounts of water and electricity.
A group of environmental and community organizers held a press conference this week to explain why they’re opposed to Prop 45.
“While communities across the country are fighting for a say about data centers, Prop 45 would roll out the red carpet for them in California with massive loopholes,” said Woody Little, a spokesperson with the No on Prop 45 campaign. Little pointed to the companies who are funding the measure.
“Special interests, including for-profit utility companies like PG&E, SoCal Edison, and Sempra, and data center developers like Prologis have contributed more than 10 million to get this measure passed,” explained Little.
Jennifer Ganata, with Communities for a Better Environment, says if the measure passes it will disproportionately impact marginalized communities.
"The reality is Black, Brown, Indigenous, and people of color and low-income communities are the ones living with the ongoing threats of industrial operations in our backyards," said Ganata, "all because corporate interests put their bottom line before the health and safety of our families.”
Right now, fights about data centers are playing out across the Bay Area. Hayward, Oakland, San Francisco, and a number of other Bay Area cities and counties have enacted moratoriums or are considering them.
But if Prop 45 passes, some legal experts believe it will supersede those moratoriums.
