Left-wing climate groups are bankrolling data center opposition campaigns across America — and the money trail leads straight to George Soros, Chinese Communist Party-tied donors, and the same progressive funding networks that fueled anti-pipeline protests.
Public Citizen lists Soros’ Open Society Foundations among the organizations whose “generous support” makes its work possible. The Sierra Club pulled in $3.6 million from Arabella Advisors’ Sixteen Thirty Fund between 2014 and 2022. CodePink, which has targeted data center projects nationwide, received funding linked to socialist megadonor Neville Roy Singham — a man with deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party who funneled roughly $285 million into six activist nonprofits as the U.S. and China battle for global AI dominance.
“It’s a playbook we’ve seen before. I think Americans saw this with the Dakota Access Pipeline. They see this with oil or natural gas production within the United States. This seemingly grassroots organization pops up, but yet they’re all wearing the same T-shirts.”
Larry Behrens, communications director at Power The Future, told Fox News Digital the pattern is unmistakable.
“When the legislative language is the same, when the talking points are the same, and the lawyer’s points are the same, then we start to see that this is not an organic local movement,” Behrens explained.
In Texas — viewed by many as the front line of the data center fight — opposition has been fueled by a network including Public Citizen, the Sierra Club, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Public Citizen is a founding member of the Texas Data Center Rebellion, which brought activists from across the state together for a two-day convening in San Antonio. The Sierra Club’s Austin chapter, PSL, and Save Our Springs Alliance teamed up for a July “Defend Dog’s Head” forum opposing a massive Austin development that includes data centers.
Several of the same groups actively involved in fueling anti-ICE protests and “No Kings” protests across the country are also pushing back against data centers.
The main driver of left-wing opposition, in addition to ideological disdain toward President Donald Trump — a staunch supporter of American AI dominance — is hostility to fossil fuels, Behrens says.
“When it comes to data centers, the reason they’re against them is absolutely clear because it represents American jobs, and it has to be supported by American energy,” Behrens explained. “And those are two things that the environmental left just absolutely cannot stand.”
“They’re gonna use delay or distracting tactics. They’re gonna use tactics like saying it’s about the water, it’s about land use. But lo and behold, when it comes time to grow cannabis, they’re more than happy with the water use.”
Behrens noted the hypocrisy: when it’s time to plaster solar fields across farmland, left-wing groups don’t care about land use. When it’s time to put solar fields across an endangered species area, they don’t care about that endangered species.
“It’s never what they say it’s about, it’s always against progress and production for American energy and American workers really,” Behrens said.
Data centers have become one of the most talked about political issues of the midterm election season, particularly in states like Texas, Ohio, and Nevada. Fox News polling this summer found voters overwhelmingly oppose building data centers in their own communities, with 70% opposed and 30% in favor.
Nearly 8 in 10 voters said construction should move more slowly to address environmental and local concerns, while just 20% favored building as quickly as possible to preserve the U.S. competitive edge over China and other countries. Opposition crossed generational lines, though MAGA Republicans and Republican men were the most supportive groups, at 46% and 45%, respectively.
Will Hild, executive director of Consumers’ Research, told Fox News Digital that climate radicals who spent decades trying to end fracking, pipelines, and American energy dominance have found their next target.
“They are hijacking legitimate consumer concerns to fuel a massive disinformation campaign aimed at frightening Americans into shutting down the technology infrastructure,” Hild said. “The same activist machine that fought American oil and gas is now mobilizing against modern data centers, because its answer to American innovation is always to stop building.”
Data center backlash is increasingly reshaping midterm races nationwide, with candidates in both parties facing pressure to distance themselves from data center development or demand tougher restrictions as voters raise concerns about electricity costs, water use, and the impact on local communities.
The issue has emerged in major Senate and gubernatorial contests from Ohio and Michigan to Pennsylvania and Texas, with campaigns using data centers in attack ads and candidates who once touted the projects increasingly calling for new regulations, tax changes, or construction pauses.
In Texas, the fight has also become part of Democrats’ broader midterm organizing effort in the state. Texas Together, a $30 million coordinated campaign backed by the Texas Democratic Party, Texas Majority PAC, Beto O’Rourke’s Powered by People, and other Democratic groups, has hosted data center-focused town halls and press events featuring Democratic candidates. The El Paso Young Democrats and El Paso County Democratic Party organized a protest against what they called “destructive AI Data Centers.”
Behrens told Fox News Digital that data center companies need to engage local stakeholders directly — not the ones being astroturfed in.
“They need to talk about the benefits of it, they need to talk about exactly what the data center does because there are legitimate questions about it and Americans have a right to say, what is this going up in our area?” Behrens said.
But Behrens also cautioned: “If you’re not throwing up opposition to any other type of manufacturing, if you’re not throwing up opposition to a large Buc-ees gas station, then why the anger over data centers? Because those operations can use a lot of water, they can use a lot of land just like the data centers.”
“If AOC, Bernie Sanders and Kathy Hochul are your intellectual guiding stars for opposing data centers, then you need to really think about where you stand because they’ve been wrong on every major energy issue ever since they entered public office.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Sixteen Thirty Fund spokesperson defended the group’s Sierra Club funding and dismissed concerns as attacks on free speech.
“Across the country, people have legitimate questions about how these projects could affect their communities. Dismissing those concerns as anti-American or anti-progress is absurd,” the spokesperson said.
Fox News Digital reached out to CodePink, the Sierra Club, Open Society Foundations, and Public Citizen for comment.
