Data Center Resource Consumption, Policy Priorities, and Regulatory Intervention

April 2026
Citation:
56
ELR 10113
Issue
2
Author
Owen Curtin

While data centers are essential to the digital economy, new legal frameworks must be established that focus on precautionary measures to mitigate the harms of data center resource consumption. When precautionary measures cannot be applied, there should be more robust liability mechanisms that allow affected people to seek recourse. For either to be effective, there must also be new coalitions mobilized to hold data centers accountable.

Owen Curtin is a 2026 B.A. candidate at Yale University and a Clean Energy Analyst at the Yale Center for Business and the Environment.