A change.org petition has been launched to stop the construction of an AI data centre in Nova Scotia, and it is rapidly gaining support.
The petition, which was posted by resident Kevin Fifield, calls the decision to build the data centre as “a decision that significantly impacts our environment, our power grid, and our community at large.”
According to CBC News, the data centre in question is a proposed data centre just outside Port Hawkesbury in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. EverWind Fuels, a renewable energy company based in Halifax, will own the facility, and Anthropic will lease it to power Claude.
The company noted it will build the facility in two stages, with the first phase coming online by the end of 2027 and the second in 2028. Both companies say they will pay for any required upgrades to the province’s electricity system, and EverWind has raised $8 billion in private capital.
Currently, the petition has 12,142 shares, 174 comments, and 11,800 signatures.
“This data centre is poised to benefit a select few while the costs are disproportionately shared by Nova Scotians,” writes Fifield. We must scrutinize who truly benefits from such projects and weigh these against long-term impacts on our environment and economy.”
Interestingly, Jacob Glick told Global News during a protest in Halifax against the data centre that “Canadians are using Claude in growing numbers, and we want our infrastructure to be closer to the people who rely on it.”
However, the people don’t exactly want the infrastructure close to them. Beyond these recent protests, the cities of Hamilton, Ontario, and Vancouver, British Columbia both sought a pause on AI data centres, with Hamilton rejecting a proposal for a large-scale project after public outcry.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Source: Kevin Pifield — Change.org
News 
News 
News 
News 