Conservatives need a coherent approach to the increasingly contentious question of AI data-center development. At the moment, the Right is all over the map, with President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance emphasizing the need to build the infrastructure required for American AI dominance, while Republican governors including Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis have approached new data-center development with far greater skepticism, and, at times, open hostility.

Taylor Budowich, president of the Innovation Council, has laid out the organized approach conservatives should take. First and foremost, we must listen to people’s concerns and ensure we oppose data-center projects that could drain communities dry. But in most places, conservatives should also recognize that communities are practically begging for data-center construction because of the investment and economic benefits these projects can bring. Our policy approach should give people the freedom to decide for themselves whether they want a data center built in their community, not impose sweeping statewide or federal moratoria that deny every town that choice and control over their economic future.

"I think part of the problem is actually the premise, which is we're thinking about it in political terms. I'm a believer of the Reaganism, good policy makes good politics. So the question should be what's good policy here?" Budowich said. "I think good policy is not a single shovel should go in the ground, not a single slab of concrete should be laid, if there's a data center that's taking from the community. These data centers, this industry, shouldn't be draining our communities, it should be feeding our communities."

And I think we start by just listening to what people are saying. They're saying that they're hurting, they're saying that they're scared, that electricity bills are rising, that they're scared about water. And so let's address that on the front end and say this shouldn't happen. You see at data centers across the country, you look at different stories. There's a data center in Oregon that was permitted and built, cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and the bill was sent to your average energy customer. And that's something that should be opposed. 

But then you look at a data center in Louisiana that just sent $50,000 checks to teachers throughout the community. You see data centers in Virginia lowering property value tax, or property taxes. You see the Quincy Miracle in Washington State, where the revenue from the data center is building a hospital, schools, rebuilding the community. You see some of these towns that have been abandoned by politicians for decades, that have been broken down, that are destitute. And they're honestly, and you see this, they're begging for data centers. They're begging for investment. They're begging for good jobs. 

Concerns must be taken seriously, but another issue conservatives must learn to address is that many of the loudest objections are not grounded in reality. From water use and electricity demand to land use, jobs, and more, critics often treat every proposed data center as an automatic drain on the community. 

The evidence points in the opposite direction. States that saw the largest growth in data-center electricity demand generally also saw electricity prices fall, while even rapid expansion would leave data centers occupying only a tiny fraction of American land. In the vast majority of cases, data centers are not the resource-draining boogeymen their critics make them out to be. They can be built without exhausting local water supplies, without forcing communities to subsidize higher power prices, and without consuming meaningful amounts of land. More importantly, they can bring investment, construction work, technical employment, and new opportunity to towns that American politicians have left behind for decades.

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So yes, we must listen to people’s concerns, but we must also recognize that those concerns are far more specific to individual communities than they are nationwide. Conservatives should also offer a vision of hope for the future rather than embracing the fear so many have adopted in a rapidly changing world.

"And so I think first we have to recognize there's serious concern. And we shouldn't ignore it. We should address it. But there's a good story to tell," Budowich said. "But until you listen, until you hear somebody, you can't tell that good story. But once you do tell that good story, there's great stories to tell about what this investment's doing for communities, how it's rebuilding the areas of this country that have been left behind to the hollowing out of our manufacturing core. And you see that it's actually creating great opportunity. But you can't govern. You can't run for office on politics. You have to care about the policy. And the good policy is what I think will win, both at the ballot box, but then for the future of the country."