Video: How Data Center Fights Are Renewing Local Power

The Pulitzer Center co-hosted a live panel during the global gathering Climate Week NYC, alongside Data & Society and the Retro Report, on Tuesday, September 22, 2026. 

The event explored the rapid expansion of AI data centers across the U.S. and how communities are organizing to demand a say in how they are developed.

The conversation included Alejandra Martinez, The Texas Tribune environmental reporter and Pulitzer Center grantee; Maia Woluchem, program director of Data & Society’s Trustworthy Infrastructures program; Brian Crawford, Texas resident with the nonprofit Protect the Paluxy Valley; and Ginny Marcille-Kerslake, Pennsylvania resident and senior organizer at Food & Water Watch. The conversation was moderated by Kit R. Roane, senior producer at Retro Report.

The panel centered on Pulitzer Center-supported reporting by The Texas Tribune on data center development, and Data & Society's report, "The AI Factory: Data Centers, Power and Resistance in Late Industrial Pennsylvania," a study based on 18 months of field research in the Keystone State.

The discussion began with an overview of the journalism and report, which document the push for data centers, especially in areas that have a strong history with the rise and fall of steel factories, coal plants, fracking infrastructure, and more. 

Panelists noted significant uncertainty about AI data centers due to a lack of transparency, especially around environmental impact, water and energy use, and impact on local livelihoods. A key topic was how communities have been organizing to exercise local power and give input on how data centers will operate.

Audience reflection

The event drew 200 registrants and 87 live attendees during Climate Week NYC. Attendees found the discussion to be insightful and gained a better understanding of how data centers reshape communities. 

Through a post-event survey, 100% of respondents reported that they increased their understanding of data centers and their impacts. In a post-event reflection exercise, participants were asked to place Post-it notes next to statements they agreed with most:

• I learned something about data centers I didn’t know before. (50%)
• I see data center impacts in my daily life. (20%)
• I gained ideas for how to discuss the topic of data centers in my daily life. (30%)

The exercise also asked: What is one word or phrase to describe what you learned in today’s panel? One Post-it response was: “We don’t know enough. SLOW IT DOWN!” This was a sentiment that echoed the panelists' own caution regarding the uncertainty brought by AI data centers and the potential environmental and social impacts.

Through the post-event exercise, participants were also asked: How will you use what you learned here? One response said: "Rally around what people love.” This echoed a reflection by Martinez, who described how a community of river tubers in Texas organized to voice concerns about the development of a data center in their area that would affect their summertime hobby.

This discussion, held at Retro Report Inc.'s offices in Midtown Manhattan, was one of more than 1,500 official events that took place during Climate Week NYC.