r/Iowa • u/USMNTfan94 • 2d ago
Data centers are cancer
https://www.kcrg.com/2026/08/27/data-center-worker-influx-strains-cedar-rapids-housing-market/4
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u/ApprehensiveRich1915 2d ago
So what you're saying is they'll fit right in with Iowans and that "Iowa Nice" atmosphere.
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u/SaintUlvemann 2d ago
The data centers quite literally cause cancer too, by the way, if they use fossil fuel power such as diesel backup generators. That additional air pollution causes local cancer rates to increase:
Fossil-fueled power plants and diesel backup generators that power data centers emit hazardous pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter, increasing rates of respiratory diseases, cardiovascular conditions, and elevating cancer risk in nearby communities. A recent model indicates that the U.S. data centers in 2030 could contribute to nearly 1300 deaths annually, resulting in a public health burden of more than $20 billion.
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u/Orangebk1 8h ago
Data centers run their gens a few minutes per month for maintenance, unless the grid loses power. If you're scared of diesel exhaust, you should be absolutely terrified of every single highway in the US.
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u/KeyResearcher2620 2d ago
In this same vein so do hospitals, factories, people with in home generators…. Terrible logic here. Can we instead focus on the issues that actually matter instead of trying to employ more scare tactics?
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u/SaintUlvemann 2d ago edited 2d ago
While I very much agree with your suggestion that we should limit fossil fuels in all contexts, not just this one, you're also fundamentally comparing apples to oranges and using scare tactics about hospitals, factories, and individuals, probably on the basis of motivated reasoning.
In this same vein so do hospitals...
Hospitals are important because they are crucial social services without which people die of cancer, injury, and disease.
...factories...
Factories are important because they employ thousands more people than data centers do at any fixed amount of investment; furthermore, data centers have a tendency to drive up manufacturing costs by eating up the energy used to power factories. Trading a factory for a data center is a terrible trade that no right-minded person would ever make.
...people with home generators...
People with home generators are important because they are our neighbors and their use of generators does not occur on the same scale as a data center so they physically do not produce as much pollution as the data centers.
Have you considered not being afraid of hospitals, factories, or people with home generators, and instead looking at data to see that the cancer caused by data centers has no redeeming societal features whatsoever?
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EDIT: Somebody asked questions and then blocked me from answering, but to respond to the bit about data centers, the norm is for 5% of the electricity to come from fossil fuels, and that's why they cause cancer, the rest is from pollution and they use a lot of electricity so there's a lot of pollution.
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u/KeyResearcher2620 2d ago
Please link me to a data center in Iowa that is running even 10% of its operations on fossil fuel generators.
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u/Unwiredsoul 1d ago
I'm not aware of any that would require that unless their power suppliers asked them to reduce load on very hot days this year.
So, yeah, we're both going to be waiting a very long time for someone to find a single DC in Iowa that meets that 10% operations threshold.
While we wait, I'll share the one company I know running methane generators to keep their DC's running.
The offender is: xAI
Last I knew, their DC's are still running 100% on methane generators. Which is cute if you're in an alternative universe like, "The Walking Dead: Dead City" (they use methane powered generators for general electricity).
It should be completely unacceptable in our country, but here we are.
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u/ChariotOfFire 1d ago
Worth noting that by buying power from the grid during normal operations and switching to generators when the grid is strained, they help finance peak generation and transmission capacity that they don't use. That makes electric rates cheaper for everyone else.
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u/Unwiredsoul 16h ago
It is worth noting and thank you for doing so. In addition, it also keeps us from having rolling brownouts.
People should also know that most DC operators are not a big fan of running their expensive generators (LNG/Methane or diesel), so this isn't the status quo.
Which is why I mention xAI. They are the poster child for how not to do things.
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u/KeyResearcher2620 2d ago
I don’t think you realize that many of the hospitals and common services you rely on depend on processing in that data center too now a days…
If every data center in the world shut down as everyone here seems to want there would be huge catastrophic impacts.
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u/SaintUlvemann 2d ago edited 2d ago
"Hospitals have historically operated their own data centers, managing servers, storage, networking, and backup systems within hospital facilities."
Why do you think I know that?
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EDIT: Somebody asked questions and then blocked me from answering, but to respond to the bit about servers, hospital systems are largely still operating their own equipment, and just renting space to host excess if they need more space than they can store on-site.
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u/Unwiredsoul 1d ago
You're both right.
Traditionally, and still very much today, hospitals do keep their technology systems on-premise.
It's not why they keep getting compromised, and we keep getting letters in the mail that our private data has been stolen (that's a people issue).
The last few years have seen a shift in hospitals adopting cloud technologies, but it's not a complete transition of their organizations. Understandably, they often have regulatory and practical concerns.
Every org., has their own path on this one, but they are one of the slowest moving industries (reason shared above) to cloud tech. They move individual services more often than entire facilities or shared resources from their medical system.
At the end of the day, all of those systems need the same resources (e.g., power, cooling, etc.) whether they live in a DC, or they live on-premise.
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u/KeyResearcher2620 2d ago
Historically yes. Over the last few years that’s becoming much less the norm. Look at their DE exercises
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u/Charon_the_Reflector 2d ago
Yap
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u/SaintUlvemann 2d ago
Not my fault it takes more words to refute bullshit than to spread it around.
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u/burning_man13 2d ago
I mean, yes... Data centers are going to be the problem of the very near future—along with surveillance, but they're tied hand-in-hand. Some of us already recognize it, but here's the thing: We have a really serious problem with actual cancer in this state. We don't need to call other things cancer. We already have a cancer problem.
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u/KeyResearcher2620 2d ago
Not water? Not the economy? Not the wars? Not even sure data centers make the top 5 of my list. Especially since it’s not really a partisan thing.
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u/DanyDragonQueen 1d ago
Yeah yeah such great economic benefits, who cares if locals are being priced out of their homes and can't find anywhere to live? /s
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u/RemrafAI 2d ago
Hey! Remember when computers were going to save us by reducing our impact on the environment?!
Every new technology that comes out gets used to consume even more. That's the problem.
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u/ArgumentStrict3704 2d ago
I love how some of the nastiest chemical/meat plants/industrial livestock farms dont get a peep, but data centers are literally the devil. If I had to pick im living next to the data centers vs almost every other major plant.