Local Ordinances for Climate Adaptation & Mitigation

Local Ordinances to Help Bring Data Centers into Alignment with Climate Goals

Data Centers: Limiting the community and environmental impacts of data centers.

• Local Ordinances to Help Bring Data Centers into Alignment with Climate Goals (PDF)
• Potential for implementation in Maryland, New York, Connecticut, and Maine (PDF)

About

Due to their high energy consumption, the growth of data centers can drive increased emissions of harmful air pollution, including greenhouse gas emissions as well as particulate emissions, depending on their source of energy. These emissions present a significant risk to public health and affect the ability of local governments to achieve their climate and clean energy goals. Despite these concerns, state and local governments often seek to attract data centers in order to reap economic benefits, including a significant source of new tax revenues. However, local governments need not choose between tax revenues and pollution control. Local governments have relevant authority over land use policy, including through zoning, which can mitigate or reduce the impacts of data centers and help ensure data center development aligns with local policy. This memo identifies an ordinance that local governments can adopt to help keep on track with their climate and environmental goals without foregoing the potential economic benefits associated with data center development.