Botetourt County, Va. – Dozens of people lined Route 220 in Botetourt County Saturday, holding signs and calling attention to a Google data center planned for the area — part of a national day of protest against AI data center development.
The demonstration was one of more than a dozen rallies held across the country, organized by the group Humans First. Similar events took place in Virginia cities including Lynchburg and Farmville, as well as in states such as Texas, Florida, California and Georgia.
Local concerns, national reach
For many who showed up, the concerns were deeply personal and close to home.
“We’re very concerned about all the detrimental effects that the Google data centers will have on Botetourt County,” said participant Danny Goad. “Not only Botetourt County, but Roanoke County and Roanoke City as well.”
Organizers say they are calling on elected leaders to take a closer look at AI data center development and to keep communities at the table as projects are proposed and planned.
Calls for transparency
Kathryn Hatam, a member of the protest’s organizer team, described the crowd as a broad coalition of residents from the Roanoke and Botetourt areas.
“This is a wide group of both Roanoke and Botetourt residents that have come out today to support the message of truth, transparency, and spreading the word in general about all the things that we don’t know about this Google project,” Hatam said. “We’ve been getting conflicting information for months.”
The proposed Google campus has been the subject of public meetings in Botetourt County, with supporters pointing to its potential economic impact. Protesters, however, say they want more information before the project moves forward.
Hatam pushed back against characterizations of the group as a fringe opposition.
“The democratic process is live. You’ve heard from your constituents. This isn’t a small group of people, and it isn’t somebody who’s saying, ‘Not in my backyard,’” Hatam said. “We are people from all different walks of life, different demographics, different political parties, and we are all coming out to say that we know from the evidence that this is harmful for our community, and you have to stop.”
A broader message
Organizers say the protest is about more than just one project or one community. Their goal is to send a message to local, state and federal leaders that as AI infrastructure continues to expand, communities should have a greater say in how and where those developments happen.