The Water Fight over Data Centers Is a Distraction. The Grid Fight Is the Real Story.

This guest post by BC Law Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Daniel Lyons first appeared in the AEIdeas Blog.

Meta recently announced it would expand Project Hyperion, its data center under construction in Richland Parish, Louisiana, into a 5-gigawatt, $50 billion facility that will be one of the largest AI campuses in the world. The announcement landed amid an increasingly organized, bipartisan movement to block future data center construction. By one estimate, opponents blocked or delayed 75 projects representing $130 billion in investment in the first quarter of 2026 alone, citing water and electricity consumption among other concerns. But a closer look at these concerns shows that some of the loudest objections do not survive contact with the numbers.

Continue reading

Are Social Media Bans for Children Justified?

I have been a proud Luddite against social media ever since Instagram, Snapchat, and other platforms have captured the attention of my generation. Those around me know to avoid the topic if they do not want to listen to a condescending rant that reminds them of their grandmother. I begrudgingly maintain a Linkedin account, but other than that, I try to stay true to my belief that social media should play an extremely limited role, if any, in our society. My initial convictions about this subject began after listening to Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at NYU, give a lecture connecting the youth mental health crisis to the prevalent usage of smartphones and social media among Gen Z. Many of my psychology classes and internship experiences during my undergrad years reaffirmed these beliefs, and I have not shut up about it since.

Continue reading