Erin Brockovich Advocates for Transparency in Data Center Operations

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich has launched a new initiative aimed at improving transparency around the construction of data centers and their impact on nearby communities.

Brockovich, who gained fame through Julia Roberts’ portrayal of her legal fight against Pacific Gas & Electric, has introduced a website featuring a map of data centers located across the United States.

This website showcases the map as a “work in progress,” utilizing information about data centers shared by local citizens. In a Substack post, Brockovich revealed that, following a request for input on data center-related issues in April, she received almost 4,000 responses in just the first month.

“The most common concern — outpacing issues like noise, water usage, and rising utility costs — can be summed up in a single word that appears frequently in submissions: transparency,” she highlighted.

Brockovich clarified that she is not issuing a “blanket statement against data centers” or AI, but is critiquing “the patterns revealed by our map: projects announced only after permits are obtained, developers who do not respond to questions, and local officials who signed NDAs before their communities knew about a proposed project.”