Activists protest AI data centers in Utah and other states

Activists have opposed multiple proposed AI data center projects across the United States, citing concerns over energy consumption, water use and environmental effects. One such project in Tremonton, Utah, covers 40,000 acres and was approved by the Box Elder County Commission on May 4, 2026.

Hudson Institute fellow Zineb Riboua told Fox News Digital that protests against data centers, climate issues and Israel share an anti-American element. She described the pattern as part of an ideology she called Third Worldism that frames the United States and the West as primary global problems.

Funding and activist overlap Fox News Digital reported that U.S.-born investor Neville Roy Singham, who lives in Shanghai, has directed roughly $285 million to six activist nonprofits. Lawmakers and analysts have accused some of those groups of promoting pro-China narratives.

Riboua said climate activists and anti-Israel demonstrators have appeared together at rallies, including a 2024 New York City event labeled Climate Justice Means Free Palestine. She also cited climate activist Greta Thunberg’s participation in a Gaza-related flotilla as an example of shifting protest focus.

Energy and technology competition Energy expert Brenda Shaffer of the U.S.

Naval Postgraduate School described the activist convergence as a red-green-green alliance of communist, Islamist and environmental groups. She said the pattern weakens Western energy development while China continues expanding coal production and manufacturing.

Shaffer compared current campaigns against data centers and fossil fuels to earlier Soviet-backed opposition to nuclear power in Europe. She noted that AI infrastructure requires large amounts of electricity and that activist delays affect U.S. capacity in the technology race with China.

O’Leary, an investor in a Utah data center project, stated that some local opposition groups are connected to China-linked funding networks, though Fox News Digital has not independently verified those specific claims.