Republicans Probe China’s Role in 1-Year Data Center Moratorium Push
Updated
Updated · POLITICO · Jun 4
Republicans Probe China’s Role in 1-Year Data Center Moratorium Push
3 articles · Updated · POLITICO · Jun 4
Summary
Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are investigating whether China or other foreign-backed actors helped fuel opposition to U.S. data center projects.
The probe lands as resistance spreads across both parties: New York lawmakers are set to approve a 1-year moratorium on some projects, and Utah’s Senate president has urged a major development to shrink.
Trump administration officials have echoed that suspicion, with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum saying in May that some anti-data-center activism was “foreign-sourced dark money,” not purely local organizing.
Food & Water Watch, a leading moratorium advocate, called the claims disingenuous and said the backlash reflects rising power bills, heavy water use, fossil-fuel pollution and other community disruptions.
Congress is also weighing direct limits on the sector’s footprint, from DOE studies on energy and water impacts to a Sanders-Ocasio-Cortez proposal for a nationwide moratorium that has gained little traction.