密歇根州第七國會選區(qū)的民主黨初選，正在成為一場對抗數(shù)據(jù)中心的政治試驗(yàn)場。一位候選人的內(nèi)部民調(diào)顯示，超過四成的潛在投票者更傾向于支持反對數(shù)據(jù)中心建設(shè)的候選人。在45歲以下選民中，這一比例接近八成。（原文：Internal polling conducted by Data for Progress of likely Democratic primary voters in the district shared with WIRED shows that more than 40 percent of respondents were “much more likely” to vote for a candidate who opposed data centers. The message resonated even more with respondents under 45: Almost 80 percent of younger voters said they’d be much more likely or more likely to support an anti-data-center candidate.）

這個(gè)數(shù)字讓氣候活動(dòng)組織“日出運(yùn)動(dòng)”的創(chuàng)始人之一威爾·勞倫斯感到意外。他現(xiàn)在正在該選區(qū)競選國會議員，并主張暫停數(shù)據(jù)中心的發(fā)展。他告訴《連線》雜志，這“當(dāng)然不是我預(yù)期在競選中要談?wù)摰淖h題”。（原文：Data centers “certainly [weren’t] the issue I expected to be talking about on the campaign,” Lawrence tells WIRED.）

但選民主動(dòng)找上了他。從他去年夏天宣布參選后，在市政廳會議和其他聚會上，人們開始自發(fā)地接近他，詢問如何將鄰里間對數(shù)據(jù)中心的憤怒情緒轉(zhuǎn)化為有組織的行動(dòng)。勞倫斯說：“人們覺得他們被這些公司和歡迎它們?nèi)腭v的地方官員徹底輕視了。”（原文：Voters, he says, started organically approaching him at town halls and other meetings after he announced his candidacy last summer, asking for his advice as a longtime organizer about how to channel the anti-data-center energy among their neighbors into something productive. “People feel like they’re being utterly disrespected by the companies and the local officials who are welcoming them into town,” he says.）

參議員伯尼·桑德斯已經(jīng)表態(tài)支持勞倫斯，稱他是一位將“要求大型科技公司和AI公司真正負(fù)責(zé)”的候選人。（原文：Senator Bernie Sanders has endorsed him, calling Lawrence a candidate who will “demand real accountability for big tech and AI companies.”）這場對數(shù)據(jù)中心的抵制，勞倫斯觀察到，也正在幫助他理解密歇根農(nóng)村地區(qū)對另一種大型工業(yè)項(xiàng)目的抗拒情緒：公用事業(yè)規(guī)模的可再生能源。（原文：And the backlash to data centers, Lawrence says, is helping him understand rural resistance to another kind of large-scale industrial project in the state: utility-scale renewable energy.）

在密歇根州，據(jù)清潔能源數(shù)據(jù)庫Cleanview的信息，全州至少有11個(gè)數(shù)據(jù)中心正在規(guī)劃中。（原文：There are at least 11 data centers planned throughout Michigan, according to the clean-energy database Cleanview.）在勞倫斯所在的第七區(qū)，兩個(gè)鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)的顯著地方阻力，已在過去一年里至少擱置了兩個(gè)計(jì)劃中的項(xiàng)目。但在密歇根其他地方，數(shù)據(jù)中心開發(fā)商找到了繞過地方反對的途徑。今年早些時(shí)候，當(dāng)?shù)诹鶇^(qū)的一個(gè)鄉(xiāng)鎮(zhèn)投票反對甲骨文公司的數(shù)據(jù)中心項(xiàng)目后，該公司提起了訴訟，小鎮(zhèn)為了避免一場昂貴的法庭斗爭而允許開發(fā)繼續(xù)進(jìn)行。（原文：Significant local pushback in two townships in the 7th district have stalled at least two planned projects over the past year. But data center developers have found ways around local opposition elsewhere in the state. After a township in the 6th district voted against an Oracle data center earlier this year, the company sued, and the town let development begin rather than engage in a costly court battle.）

就在本月早些時(shí)候，密歇根州州長格雷琴·惠特默現(xiàn)身甲骨文數(shù)據(jù)中心的開幕儀式。在現(xiàn)場照片里，她與OpenAI的山姆·奧爾特曼并肩微笑，并稱贊了這項(xiàng)160億美元的投資。（原文：Earlier this month, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer appeared at the opening of the Oracle data center, where she was photographed smiling next to OpenAI’s Sam Altman and praised the $16 billion investment.）

一位來自加利福尼亞的民主黨策略師庫珀·特博評論道：“任何有分量的候選人都知道這些數(shù)據(jù)中心是有毒的?！彼f，認(rèn)識不到這一點(diǎn)的候選人，可能會陷入麻煩。（原文：“Any candidate worth their weight knows that these data centers are toxic,” says Cooper Teboe, a Democratic strategist based in California. Candidates that don’t recognize this, Teboe says, ）