To the Editor:

Data centers are HOT. Not HOT as in the popular Trumpian lexicon, nor HOT as in popular — HOT in the most literal sense of the word. In May 2026, an Arizona State University research paper published in everyone’s favorite journal, the Journal of Engineering for Sustainable Buildings and Cities, clarifies just exactly how hot.

The study’s authors found that a single data center’s discharge waste heat can be 14-25 degrees Fahrenheit above its surroundings. That heat can flow and disperse, causing ‘thermal plumes’ of heat discharge that can spike air temps up to a third of a mile away up to four degrees hotter than neighboring areas not near a data center.

High temps mean it costs more to cool your home. High temps mean more heat stress on vulnerable people at the extremes of age. High temps mean a vicious cycle perpetuating our cities as urban ‘heat islands’, attracting and retaining more and more heat that can’t be dispersed. This is money coming out of your pocket to line a techno robber-baron; this is your neighborhood and your neighbors on the line.

How much more do we need to learn about data centers on our lands before we say an emphatic ‘NO’?