Green Party leader Zack Polanski calls for data centre freeze in England; says they 'guzzle' energy, water

Zack Polanski demands freeze on English data centres. Green Party leader Zack Polanski has called for a freeze on approvals for new data centres in England, arguing that the rapidly expanding industry is putting pressure on water and energy supplies.Polanski said the government should introduce tougher environmental requirements for data centres and give local communities a greater say over whether new facilities are built in their areas. He made the comments while visiting the site of a proposed data centre in East London.“We need to slam the brakes on these energy guzzling, water guzzling data centres,” Polanski told the BBC.He called for a moratorium on new developments, apart from smaller facilities serving local communities. Polanski also criticised the government's decision to classify data centres as critical infrastructure, saying the designation was inappropriate while much of the country was experiencing drought.“At a time when three-quarters of the country is in drought, it is outrageous that these are being considered critical infrastructure,” he said. “To most people critical infrastructure means hospitals, water, electricity. It doesn't mean Artificial Intelligence.”D...