Viewpoint: Pay attention to the hidden cost of data centers
Haley Yarborough
When most of us think about climate change and public health in Montana, we think of wildfire smoke, drought, or rising temperatures. But another issue is quietly entering the conversation: data centers.
Data centers are the physical backbone of the internet, massive warehouses filled with computers that power everything from streaming video to artificial intelligence. As demand for AI and cloud computing grows, companies are searching for new places to build these facilities.
Montana is no exception.
At first glance, data centers may seem like a clean industry. They don’t have smokestacks or tailpipes. But their impacts on climate and public health are real...and they begin with energy.
Researchers estimate that data centers already account for more than 4% of total U.S. electricity consumption and generate over 100 million tons of carbon emissions annually.
Electricity demand is expected to rise rapidly as artificial intelligence expands, potentially doubling or tripling energy use in the coming years. That energy has to come from somewhere. When it comes from fossil fuels, the result is more air pollution, pollution that contributes to asthma, heart disease, and premature death. One national study estimated that air pollution linked to data centers caused more than $5 billion in public-health costs in the United States between 2019 and 2023. These are not abstract numbers. They represent emergency-room visits, missed work days, and chronic illness—costs borne by communities, not tech companies.
Montana faces another concern: water.
Many large data centers rely on water-based cooling systems to keep servers from overheating. A single large facility can consume up to 3–5 million gallons of water per day, enough to compete with agriculture, fisheries, and municipal supplies. Some estimates suggest this amount of water could supply a town of tens of thousands of people.
In a state where drought cycles, irrigation demands, and river flows already shape livelihoods, that level of water use is not trivial.
Proposals and negotiations involving new data centers are already underway in Montana, with utilities exploring agreements to supply large quantities of electricity to facilities in places like Butte and Yellowstone County. At the same time, Montana currently has few regulations limiting energy or water use by data centers, leaving communities to weigh risks and benefits largely on their own.
There are also less visible impacts. Data centers rely on diesel backup generators and massive cooling systems that can produce air pollutants and persistent noise, both of which pose health risks and degrade the quality of life for nearby communities.
For health professionals, the connection is clear. Climate change and environmental degradation are not separate from human health; they are drivers of it. Increased air pollution worsens respiratory illness. Water stress affects agriculture and food security. Heat and smoke strain hospitals and rural clinics already operating at capacity.
Public health has always been about prevention, acting before harm becomes widespread. That principle applies here as well. Communities and policymakers can ask reasonable questions: Where will the electricity come from? How much water will be used? Who bears the health and infrastructure costs?
Montana has an opportunity to ask these questions now, before large-scale development locks in decades of consequences. Once a facility is built and connected to the grid, its footprint is not easily undone.
The internet may feel intangible, but its infrastructure is not. It runs on water, energy, and land, resources that Montanans depend on every day. The choices we make today will shape not only our environment but also our health for years to come.
Julia Ryder, RN Bozeman; Anita Taylor, MD Helena; Lori Byron, MD Red Lodge;
Haley Yarborough, Missoula
We are members of MT Health Professionals for a Healthy Climate https://www.montanahphc.org, an organization of health professionals in the state, working together to address climate change as a public health issue, because the climate crisis threatens the health and future of our communities.