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First Authorized Data Center on Public Lands Would Harm Environment, Local Community
LAS VEGAS — The Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club Toiyabe Chapter today filed an administrative appeal challenging federal approval of the Townsite Data Center in Boulder City, Nevada.
The 167-megawatt data center, proposed by Skylar Capital Management, was approved by the Bureau of Land Management in June through an unorthodox permitting procedure that avoided any environmental review or public participation. It is the first data center ever approved on public lands.
“It’s an outrage that the Trump administration is giving away our public lands to hedge funds for data centers,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Public lands are for wildlife and clean water, for recreation and spiritual renewal. They’re not meant for big tech companies to spew air pollution and suck down water for AI and the surveillance state.”
