Read previous posts in this series: Part I: Web Searches and the Data Center, Part II: Powering a Data Center, Part III: Cooling Thirsty Data Centers, and Part IV: The Environmental Impact of Hoosier Data Centers.
Part V: Okay, I’m Convinced, but Can I Make a Difference?
When I started on this data center blog-writing journey, I was sure that data centers were bad for the environment, and that I ought to dislike them, but did not have any facts to support my feelings. I certainly learned a lot, and hope this blog has helped the reader understand data center basics, and also why you should care if data centers are built here in Indiana. During my research, the big picture of data centers became clear: big tech companies want to build hyperscale data centers in Indiana and they want to build fast, the Amazon Rainier Project hypercenter in New Carlisle, and the Google hypercenter in Fort Wayne (which does not have a website) being the most recent. The numbers behind the construction and operations of these facilities are mindboggling, and I assure you my mind has been boggled. During the research to write this 5-part blog series, I was beginning to feel overwhelmed and honestly, discouraged, because the strength behind the tech giants building Hoosier data centers seems unbreakable. Are we doomed to accept the fact that Indiana has become the latest data center sweetheart?
Indiana has a political and economic climate that prioritizes business over both the environment and citizens, but fortunately for us all, the alarm bell has been rung, and it is clearly not inevitable that Indiana will become the data center crossroads of America. Just in the time that I have been researching for this blog, the tide seems to have changed. The same resistance scenario is playing out across the Midwest, and activist groups, environmental groups, local governments, and neighborhood groups are learning fast and leaning in, combining forces to stop the data center building boom.
Please see these articles about the many successes of anti-data center resistance in 2025:
Earth Charter Indiana on the state of data center resistance here
Monthly Review on the successes of data center resistance across the country
WIRED on strong national resistance in the fourth quarter of 2025
The Guardian on resistance in Latin America!!!
There are over a dozen active groups on the forefront of the pushback organizing across that state. Please learn more about these state-wide groups:
Indiana Beyond Coal
Environment Resilience Institute (IU)
Institute for a Sustainable Future (Purdue)
Citizens Action Coalition
Earth Charter Indiana
Indiana Conservation Voters
The Nature Conservancy
And many more! This is an incomplete list….
In conclusion, education is power, so please continue to educate yourself on the data center boom in Indiana and the world in general, as will I. With ever-increasing headlines of Hoosier data center developments being rejected after public and organizational pushback, it is becoming clear that advocacy against hyperscale data centers is working. Consider finding a group to connect with, and make your voice heard.
Jennifer Ehara
Winding Waters Group Executive Committee
and Hoosier Chapter Sierra Club Communications Team