American Voters Are Saying No to Data Centres Next Door
美国选民开始对家门口的数据中心说不
美国中期选举中，45 项涉及数据中心的地方议案里有 33 项支持限制建设；选举日民调显示 76% 选民反对在自家社区建数据中心。争论已从芯片与资本，变成土地、水资源与电网成本由谁承担。
33 of 45 local ballot measures backed restrictions, and a poll found 76% opposed a data centre in their own community. The argument is now about land, water and who pays for the grid.
American voters have started saying no to data centres — not in the abstract, but at the ballot box. In this week's midterm elections, 33 of the 45 local measures dealing with data centre development came out in favour of restricting it, according to a tally by the consultancy Redbud Consulting.
The polling is starker still. An NBC News survey conducted on election day found that 76% of voters opposed a data centre being built in their own community. Opposition on that scale, over something most people never see, is unusual.
Some towns went further than rejecting a single project. Voters in Wells, Maine, backed a 180-day moratorium on large data centres. Several Ohio cities banned buildings that would draw more than 25 megawatts. Eldorado, Kansas, voted to prohibit facilities above 10 megawatts of peak load for the next ten years.
The complaints are local and concrete: electricity bills, water consumption, land use, and the tax breaks municipalities offer to attract the projects in the first place. A data centre is a very large industrial customer that employs very few people, and when the grid has to be upgraded to serve it, residents notice who ends up paying.
The politics followed the planning meetings. Candidates from both parties spent the campaign answering questions about it, and several who backed pauses won — including in Texas, which has the second-largest pipeline of planned data centres in the country. Even Republicans who oppose outright bans have moved towards making developers cover the cost of the power and water they need.
How much the issue actually decided any of these races is harder to say, because voters weigh the economy, immigration and everything else at the same time. The direction, though, is not in doubt. A technology that was until recently an abstract story about chips and capital has turned into a land-use argument, and land-use arguments are settled by the people who live next door.
For the companies, the practical consequence is simple. Building a data centre used to require chips and electricity. It now requires chips, electricity and permission.
中文翻译（全文）
美国选民开始对数据中心说不——不是在抽象层面，而是在投票箱里。在本周的美国中期选举中，涉及数据中心开发的地方议案共 45 项，其中 33 项的结果支持限制建设，这是咨询机构 Redbud Consulting 的统计。
民调数字更刺眼。美国全国广播公司（NBC）在选举日进行的调查显示，76% 的选民反对在自己居住的社区建设数据中心。对于一样大多数人从未亲眼见过的东西，如此规模的反对并不常见。
一些城镇走得更远，不只是否决某个具体项目。缅因州韦尔斯镇的选民支持对大型数据中心实施 180 天暂停令；俄亥俄州数个城市禁止建设用电超过 25 兆瓦的建筑；堪萨斯州埃尔多拉多市则投票决定，未来十年内禁止建设峰值负荷超过 10 兆瓦的设施。
抱怨都是本地而具体的：电费、水耗、土地占用，以及市政当局为了吸引这些项目而给出的税收优惠。数据中心是雇用极少人的超大工业用户，而当电网需要为它升级时，居民会留意最后是谁在付账。
政治随之而来。两党候选人都得在竞选中回应这个问题，而几位主张暂停的候选人赢了——包括得克萨斯州，那里规划中的数据中心数量全美第二。即便反对全面禁令的共和党人，也开始转向要求开发商自行承担其电力与用水成本。
这个问题到底在多大程度上决定了这些选战，很难说清，因为选民同时还在权衡经济、移民以及其他一切。但方向毫无疑问：一项不久前还是关于芯片与资本的抽象叙事的技术，如今变成了土地使用之争——而土地使用的争论，是由住在隔壁的人来裁定的。
对公司而言，实际后果很简单。建一座数据中心过去需要芯片和电，现在需要芯片、电，还有许可。
重点词汇
- ballot measure /ˈbælət ˈmeʒə/ n. — a question put directly to voters at an election （地方）公投议案 33 of 45 ballot measures backed restrictions.
- moratorium /ˌmɒrəˈtɔːriəm/ n. — an official pause on an activity 暂停令；禁令 The town backed a 180-day moratorium.
- peak load /piːk ləʊd/ n. — the highest amount of power demanded at one time 峰值负荷 Facilities above 10 MW of peak load were banned.
- subsidy /ˈsʌbsədi/ n. — money paid to support an activity 补贴 States offer tax subsidies to attract projects.
- pipeline /ˈpaɪplaɪn/ n. — projects that are planned but not yet built （项目）储备；在建计划 Texas has the second-largest pipeline.
- land use /lænd juːs/ n. — how land is zoned and used in a community 土地使用 It has become a land-use argument.
- outright /ˈaʊtraɪt/ adj. — complete and direct, without exceptions 彻底的；全面的 Some Republicans oppose outright bans.
- weigh /weɪ/ v. — to consider several things before deciding 权衡 Voters weigh the economy and other issues.
- decide /dɪˈsaɪd/ v. — to determine the outcome of something 决定（结果） It is hard to say how much the issue decided these races.
- permission /pəˈmɪʃn/ n. — official approval to do something 许可 It now requires chips, electricity and permission.
阅读测验
共 5 道题目
What did the local ballot measures show?
What did the NBC News poll find?
Every town that voted only rejected a specific project rather than passing a broader restriction.
Which concerns does the article list? (Select all that apply)
Building a data centre now requires chips, electricity and _____.
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