Data Centers & Environmental Justice

This program addresses the hidden costs of digital infrastructure by centering data centers as an environmental justice issue. We develop tools, research, and advocacy strategies to ensure communities can shape decisions about where and how data centers are built.

Data centers are multiplying across the United States, driving demand for electricity, water, and land at unprecedented scales. Yet their impacts - on local ecosystems, labor, and frontline communities - remain largely invisible. Rooted Futures Lab’s Data Centers + EJ program confronts this gap head-on through research, coalition-building, and public tools like the National Data Center Dashboard. We also design creative interventions, from negotiation simulations to storytelling projects, that demystify data infrastructure and strengthen community power in siting decisions. Our goal is to reframe data centers not just as technical facilities, but as contested environmental justice landscapes.