🧩 BND Motif Index · M915
Thirsty data centers
Data centers are said to drink a region's water dry, millions of gallons to cool the chips while wells, rivers and aquifers fall.
- 5claims filed under it
- 2left shows it came up on
- 3center shows it came up on
- 1claim retold online
- 1fact-checker
⚠️ A story people tell, not a claim that it's true.
A motif is the shape of a story as its tellers tell it, named the way a folklorist names a tale type, so the same story told about other people, by the other side or in another year lands in the same place. Some of the claims below are true, many are false. Arguing against a story is often a story of its own, its answer (Voter fraud is answered by Voter suppression, Lawfare by No one is above the law), and we file it there; where no answer has a motif yet, the arguments against a story sit with its tellings.
🪜 Its family
what it rests on, what rests on it, and the motifs that answer it
🪜 rests on 🧩 Data center panic
🎙️ Who it came up with
the shows we follow where its claims came up, by the show's lean
🐘 right 0
🦗 none of our right shows, so far
"Came up on" means one of its claims was heard on the show: told, reported or argued against. We don't yet mark which. Show leans are our own grouping of the shows we transcribe.
🧶 Its claims
what's been told in this shape, newest first, in our words, with where each was heard
- 2026-10-16 “Data centers have negative impacts on energy usage, water usage, and noise levels.”
🎙️ Today, Explained 🎙️ BBC Global News Podcast 🎙️ Breaking Points - 2026-10-15 “Meta's New Mexico data center uses millions of gallons of water and has drained the Rio Grande.” 🔎 Snopes
- 2026-10-12 “Data center developments in Arizona make neighborhoods less livable by producing noise, heat, and consuming excessive water.”
🎙️ Today, Explained 🎙️ BBC Global News Podcast 🎙️ Breaking Points - 2026-10-09 “The development of AI and data centers causes significant environmental and social harm, such as increased emissions and water usage.”
🎙️ Breaking Points 🎙️ The Majority Report (podcast) 🎙️ 1A (WAMU/NPR) - 2026-10-07 “Data centres are harmful to the environment and communities due to their high energy and water use, and require regulation and community consent.” 🧶 people online
M915 · first seen 2026-10-12 · last 2026-10-22 · what this is · how the index works