No large-scale data centers in Tucson!

The audacity of nope

The City of Tucson is considering regulations on large-scale data centers. We want the outcome of this process to prevent them from being built altogether. After the first public meeting on the matter, it was clear that the current proposed regulations will make it possible for large-scale data centers to be built here. If that’s all you need to know, skip down to What can we do?

Why do we say no?

  • Large-scale data centers are warehouses of powerful computers that require massive amounts of energy and generate lots of heat.
  • Project Blue – the proposed data center southeast of Tucson – could consume more energy than the whole city!
  • When large-scale data centers use our utilities, we get higher bills, because they pass the costs of their energy use onto us. We’ve seen this happen all over the country and to our neighbors in Phoenix.
  • TEP relies on fracked gas to meet these data centers’ increasing energy demand. Fracking uses up huge amounts of water from communities and energy generation uses even more.
  • Diesel backup generators make our air toxic to breathe, and create noise pollution that has forced neighboring families to sleep in their basements.

What is it for?

Why are there suddenly so many large-scale data centers and why are they trying to build so many more? Has our use of the internet increased that much? Are there millions of new streaming movies? Billions of new cat videos and baby photos? No, no, and no. So what is new?

  • Increased use of generative AI that’s already putting people out of work.
  • Federal government contracts with companies like Palantir, Flock, and Axon. For years, Palantir has helped government agencies like ICE collect and analyze data on immigrants. Now, these companies are designing databases to help the federal government identify anyone who disagrees with federal policies.
  • Contracts with foreign militaries like Israel, aiding in their genocidal violence against Palestinians in Gaza. Companies like Raytheon also profit from this violence, making our local economy complicit.
  • Tech billionaires are getting even richer from this cruelty. They’re grabbing land and water, and extracting from our communities as they do it. This is a continuation of the legacy of genocide and displacement of Indigenous people and extraction from Indigenous lands across the world.

Check out the links and resources we’ve compiled about the impacts of large-scale data centers on other communities.

We say no to profiting from greed, cruelty, and extraction! No to our local governments getting crumbs for being complicit!

What can we do?

The week of February 23, 2026: Contact the mayor and your city council member and tell them to redirect their staff to write the regulations so they make it impossible to build large-scale data centers here.

Mayor’s office: 520-791-4201 / mayor.romero@tucsonaz.gov
Find your city council member on the Pima County Recorder’s website.

Fill out the City of Tucson’s online survey about regulating large-scale data centers.

The week of March 2, 2026:

  • 3/3/26 5:30pm: Come to Tucson City Council and make a public comment letting them know you don’t want large-scale data centers in Tucson.
  • 3/5/26 6-8pm: Come to the final public meeting at Rincon High School and help us pack it. Wear red and tell the city NO!

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