Across the country, discontent has exploded over the ever-growing glut of server farms that have accompanied the AI boom. Anger has grown so loud that it’s begun to shift legislative agendas. Some states and communities are mulling temporary bans on new data center development altogether. Earlier this month, New York joined the club, with a bold new proposal to halt the local cloud build-out in its tracks.

A new bill in New York State would impose a three-year moratorium on the issuance of new permits for data center construction throughout the state, while local regulators are given a chance to study the environmental and economic impacts the industry is having on communities. The bill’s co-authors, state senator Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Anna Kelles, have called the legislation the “strongest” introduced in the country.