For Immediate Release
Wednesday, June 17, 2026
Contact: connor.kish@sierraclub.org
Sierra Club Virginia Chapter Calls for a Pause on New Data Center Development in Virginia
~ Inaction, study punt tactic, and pay-to-pollute charade by the legislature on critical issue of our time must be met with a temporary pause ~
Richmond, VA — Last week the Virginia House of Delegates, and more recently the State Senate, released budget proposals that fail to meet the moment—and fail the Virginians demanding action on unchecked data center development. The House's plan to hand the issue to a commission for further study is a non-starter at a time when red and blue states across the country are already moving. And the Senate's alternative, a tax on dirty generators, ignores the litany of other energy and environmental harms data centers bring.
Today, the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter joins groups across the Commonwealth in support of a temporary pause on the issuance of all data center-related state permits and local approvals of data centers in Virginia.
Connor Kish, Director of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter said, “Until the legislature takes its role seriously and implements standards that, at a minimum, place clean energy requirements on Big Tech companies, eliminate the use of on-site diesel backup power, ban the use of on-site fossil fuel generation, and configure a cost and tax structure that doesn’t hurt Virginians wallets to the tune of billions of dollars, there is no reason for the continued approval of any additional projects. If the legislature’s true solution at this moment is to study the issue with no immediate change to the industry’s environmental operations or its far-too-generous tax structures, then there is no credible argument against the temporary pause while that study is underway.”
The confidence of Virginians in their government to protect their health, their air, their water, and their wallets is on the line.