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alexandria ocasio-cortez
With First-of-Its-Kind Bill, Sanders and AOC Propose Moratorium on New AI Data Centers
"These massive facilities are sucking up precious water resources, paving over farmland, driving climate change, and disrupting the fabric of communities," said one supporter of the new legislation.
Mar 25, 2026
Two of the leading progressives in the US Congress, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, announced legislation on Wednesday that would impose a nationwide moratorium on the construction of new artificial intelligence data centers amid mounting concerns over their insatiable consumption of power and water resources, impacts on the climate, and other harms.
Sanders' (I-Vt.) office said in a press release announcing the Artificial Intelligence Data Center Moratorium Act that the construction pause would remain in effect "until strong national safeguards are in place to protect workers, consumers, and communities, defend privacy and civil rights, and ensure these technologies do not harm our environment."
Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are set to formally introduce their legislation at a press conference on Wednesday at 4 pm ET.
Food & Water Watch (FWW), which last year became the first national organization in the US to call for a total moratorium on the approval of new AI data centers, celebrated the first-of-its-kind bill and called on other members of Congress to "move quickly to sponsor, champion, and pass" it. FWW's groundbreaking call for a national AI data center moratorium was later echoed by hundreds of advocacy organizations at the state and national levels.
“We need a halt to the explosive growth of new AI data center construction now, because political and community leaders across the country have been caught completely off guard by this aggressive, profit-hungry industry," Mitch Jones, FWW's managing director of policy and litigation, said in a statement Wednesday. "It has yet to be determined if—not how—the industry can ever operate in a manner that sufficiently protects people and society from the profusion of inherent hazards and harms that data centers bring wherever they appear."
“Long before the recent spike in global oil prices, Americans throughout the country were dealing with skyrocketing electricity rates due to the egregious consumption and jolting grid impacts levied by Big Tech’s AI data centers," Jones added. "Meanwhile, these massive facilities are sucking up precious water resources, paving over farmland, driving climate change, and disrupting the fabric of communities. We mustn’t allow another unchecked Silicon Valley scheme to profit off our backs while sticking us with the bill."
In a detailed report released last week, titled The Urgent Case Against Data Centers, FWW pointed to some of the "documented harms caused by AI and data centers," including:
- Enormous energy footprints: A single hyperscale data center can consume as much energy as 2 million US households.
- A lifeline for fossil fuels: The thirst for fuel is being met by keeping old coal-fired power plants running and by building new natural gas ones.
- Skyrocketing electricity costs: Increased energy demand can raise residential rates, which soared 31% from 2020 to 2025 (compared to 4% from 2015 to 2020).
- Drained water resources: By 2028, AI data centers could use as much water as 18.5 million households, just for cooling their servers.
- An investment bubble: A handful of companies are investing in one another and increasingly turning to risky debt structures to hide the threat of the bubble.
- A litany of other harms: This includes massive amounts of electronic waste (e-waste), unrelenting noise pollution, loss of farmland, political instability from deepfake videos, lost revenue from data center tax incentives, and child endangerment from AI chatbots.
Those harms have fueled massive grassroots opposition to AI data centers, with communities organizing to prevent construction in their backyards. One report estimates that between May 2024 and March 2025, local opposition helped tank or delay $64 billion worth of data center projects across the US.
That opposition has pushed local lawmakers to act. According to a tracker maintained by Good Jobs First, "at least 63 local data-center moratorium actions have been introduced, considered, or adopted across dozens of towns and counties," and "some 54 have already passed."
At the state level, Good Jobs First counted "at least 12 in-session states with filed data center moratorium bills this cycle," and noted that some governors have taken or floated executive action to slow or pause AI data center build-outs.
But the Trump administration is trying to move in the opposite direction.
In a national policy framework document unveiled last week, the White House urged Congress to "streamline federal permitting for AI infrastructure construction and operation" and called for a prohibition on state regulation of AI.
Jim Walsh, FWW's policy director, slammed the White House framework as "more of the same nonsense we’ve been hearing for months" and warned that "more data centers mean more climate-killing fracked gas power plants poisoning our air and water, and more stress placed on local communities’ precious water resources."
"The only prudent course of action when it comes to AI," said Walsh, "is to halt the explosive growth of new data center construction now, so that states and communities have the time needed to properly consider their own futures."
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AOC Rips Vance: 'The Only Thing Longer Than My Pause to Think Was Their Silence to His Joke'
"Alexandria lives in JD Vance’s head rent-free because she won't back down from fighting for what's right," said the progressive's reelection campaign.
Feb 19, 2026
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez swiftly fired back at Vice President JD Vance on Thursday after the Republican mocked the New York Democrat for her difficulty answering a question about Taiwan during the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
Speaking during the inaugural meeting of President Donald Trump's so-called Board of Peace, Vance attempted a joke: "Thank you, Mr. President, very much for your leadership, but also for the kind words about me personally. I knew exactly what I wanted to say but then after the president said that I was so smart and that I didn't want to repeat our congresswoman who froze for 20 seconds over in Munich. Now I'm tempted, sir, just to freeze for 20 seconds and just stare at the cameras, and maybe they'll say nice things about me, like they do about Congresswoman Cortez, but I have three very brief messages."
Responding to a video clip of Vance on social media, Ocasio-Cortez said, "The only thing longer than my pause to think was their silence to his joke," with a skull emoji, generally used to convey laughing to death.
Vance previously took aim at Ocasio-Cortez during a Tuesday interview with Fox News' Martha MacCallum, who asked him to weigh in on footage from Munich last Friday, when Ocasio-Cortez was asked whether the United States should send troops to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
The congresswoman began, "Um, you know, I think that, uh, this is such a, a—you know, I think that—this is a, um—this is of course, a, uh, a very long-standing, um, policy of the United States."
While Fox cut off the clip there, Ocasio-Cortez added: "And I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point, and we want to make sure that we are moving in all of our economic, research, and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise."
Describing the congresswoman as "a person who doesn't know what she actually thinks," the vice president—who may run as Trump's successor in 2028—called her answer "embarrassing" and "the most uncomfortable 20 seconds of television I've ever seen."
"Does anybody really believe that AOC has very thoughtful ideas about the global world order or about what the United States should do with our policy in Asia or our policy Europe?" Vance added. "No, this is a person who is mouthing the slogans that somebody else gave her."
Ocasio-Cortez is seeking another term in the House of Representatives this cycle, though she has fueled speculation of a possible Senate or presidential run in 2028, including with her trip to Germany, where she argued that "working-class-centered politics" is key to defeating the "scourge of authoritarianism."
Her congressional campaign noted the attack from Vance in a Thursday email to supporters: "Did you see what JD Vance said about Alexandria? He said she's 'somebody who doesn't know what she actually thinks.' JD Vance is wrong."
It goes on to detail some of "what Alexandria thinks," including:
- In the wealthiest nation in the history of the world, when a person gets sick, they shouldn't go bankrupt;
- A minimum wage should cover the minimum cost to live; and
- Homes are not slot machines for investors and Wall Street to extort working families out of every last dollar that they have.
"Alexandria lives in JD Vance's head rent-free because she won't back down from fighting for what's right," the email adds. "But she can't do this work alone. She needs a movement alongside her."
The congresswoman wasn't alone is ridiculing Vance after he mocked her on Thursday. Journalist Mehdi Hasan said that "it's so funny that he tries to make a joke about AOC and gets no laughs."
It is "a reminder" that Ocasio-Cortez, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, "and the rest of the top-tier Dems could make mincemeat out of this guy in 2028," Hasan declared. "He has the charisma of a broken wooden chair and the humor of Elon Musk."
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Every Single Participant in NYT Focus Group Preferred Progressive Candidates Over Moderate Ones
"The Democratic Party needs to embrace voices that resonate with people," said one participant
Feb 18, 2026
The New York Times' "America in Focus" series has assembled dozens of focus groups in recent years, often asking supporters of President Donald Trump how they feel about his domestic and foreign policy one year into his second term—but political observers suggested Tuesday that the newspaper's latest focus group should capture the attention of Democratic leaders who have been condemned for capitulating to the president and refusing to embrace and learn from the victories of progressive leaders like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
The newspaper spoke to 13 Democratic and independent voters including retirees from Indiana and Michigan, working people from states such as North Carolina and Nevada, and an unemployed voter from Iowa. The topic of discussion was the participants' frustrations with the Democratic Party as it faces the Trump administration and the president's aggressive deployment of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) across the country.
"Spineless" was one word a participant had for the Democratic Party when asked to describe it. Another said the party appears "paralyzed" while a 46-year-old Latina woman from Nevada said Democrats in Congress are "sellouts and suckers."
Terrill, a 68-year-old retired Indiana resident, agreed that the party leadership has "sold out."
"I just feel we were never being governed," said Terrill. "We’re being looted. The Democratic Party lined their pockets and created—they created this mess."
A number of respondents expressed ire over the decision by eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus to vote with Republicans last November to end a record-breaking government shutdown—without securing any concessions on protecting healthcare for millions of Americans who rely on Affordable Care Act subsidies.
The response from participants "tracks 100% with what I've seen on the streets, from No Kings protests to the resistance against ICE," said commentator Hasan Piker.
Democratic leaders, he added, "are oblivious to the anger" felt by voters. "They’re speaking into an echo chamber of consultants who tell them what they want to hear."
With voters expressing such intense dissatisfaction with the leadership of establishment Democrats, "how on Earth do Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries still manage to cling to their leadership roles?" asked journalist Mehdi Hasan, referring to the Senate and House minority leaders, who both represent New York.
But along with unloading their frustration about the Democrats who continue to back ICE—even as support for the agency craters among voters—and refuse to develop what one voter called "clear, concise messaging" that communicates how the party will fight for working Americans, the participants talked about the political leaders who "excite" them about the future of the party and the country.
Mike, a 33-year-old telecommunications professional in North Carolina, said that Mamdani, a democratic socialist, exemplifies what the party "should be doing more of."
Less than two months into his mayoral term, said Mike, Mamdani has provided voters in New York and across the country with a "clear and concise" message about how he plans to govern and what he plans to prioritize.
Mike drew a comparison to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), an early backer of Mamdani who is continuing the Fighting Oligarchy nationwide tour he began last year, speaking to crowds in both red and blue districts about the need for policies that serve working families rather than billionaire political donors and corporations.
"Bernie has said the same thing since the ’80s," said Mike. "You’ve got to tax the billionaires. You’ve got to tax the upper class. He’s never changed. That’s the messaging. You’ve just got to drill it into them, and Zohran did it. Man, it’s beautiful."
While other respondents expressed some enthusiasm about more moderate leaders like Gov. Gavin Newsom of California and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, several participants agreed with Mike's comments on Mamdani and one independent voter named Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), another outspoken democratic socialist and a potential 2028 contender, as a leader who "excites" them.
If given a choice between voting for a moderate candidate in an election or a progressive, all 13 participants said they would choose the progressive.
A 29-year-old independent voter named Panth from Arizona said the term moderate reminded him of "people like [former West Virginia Sen.] Joe Manchin, who hold up some of the policies that I would want supported."
"I feel like moderates are happy with the status quo and will basically do what we’ve always done. The system is working for them and they want to keep it the same. I think for a large part of Americans, the system isn’t working, so we need something new," said Panth.
Days after taking office, Mamdani announced that he and Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had finalized a deal to fund his universal childcare plan for the city. He also announced the launch of "rental ripoff" hearings to hold landlords accountable for abuses, intervened in a major renters' dispute, personally aided with snow removal, and repaved a dangerous bump in the road on the Williamsburg Bridge.
Progressive policymakers "actually do stuff," summarized Panth.
The widespread expression of enthusiasm for progressive candidates came a week after grassroots organizer Analilia Mejía's victory in the Democratic primary in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District, after which Sanders asserted that victories on the left "can be done everywhere.”
As Trump has ramped up his attacks on immigrant communities and First Amendment rights, leaders including Schumer and Jeffries have incensed progressive commentators by backing down on demands to rein in ICE, refusing to clearly condemn the administration's arrest and attempted deportation of pro-Palestinian protesters, and expressing frustration at advocacy groups that have demanded they fight the Trump agenda.
"The Democratic Party needs to embrace voices that resonate with people," said Panth. "When you hear Bernie, he has energy because he really believes in what he’s saying. It’s the same reason Trump resonates with people, because he acknowledges some of the struggles that they’re facing. Sure, he blames the wrong groups, but he at least voices it. The Democratic Party doesn’t do the same."
Alex Jacquez, a former Obama administration official who's now chief of policy and advocacy at the economic justice group Groundwork Collaborative, commented: "Bingo."
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