Bayonne is the latest municipality in New Jersey to ban data centers, a win for residents and grassroots activists who fought back against a plan to bring one to the city last December.<\/p>\n
The city council approved the ban 5-0 earlier this week, and Mayor Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski signed it on Aug. 13.<\/p>\n
Opponents of data centers, such as climate advocacy group Climate Revolution Action Network (CRAN), claim Bayonne is the 32nd municipality in New Jersey to vote to ban the facilities.<\/p>\n
Officials\u00a0in the neighboring municipality of Jersey City<\/a> introduced an ordinance in July that would ban data centers as the primary use of industrial property, a move aimed at preserving the city\u2019s remaining industrial land for uses officials say will create more local jobs.<\/p>\n The ordinance received its first reading on July 15. A final vote is scheduled for the Aug. 19 meeting of the Jersey City Council.<\/p>\n \u201cThis win in Bayonne is a win for everyone in New Jersey,\u201d said Bayonne resident Jennah Reddick, who organized her neighbors to fight for the ban. \u201cWe showed that the people can fight back and that we\u2019re the ones who have power, not the developers. We came together as a community to fight back against corporate greed, even when we were told it was a losing battle, and we won. Only one spark is needed to start a fire, and that spark can be you.\u201d<\/p>\n Residents packed council meetings for months to demand a data center ban, which became a defining issue in the May elections for mayor and council earlier this year. Running on a platform that included banning data centers, Mayor Ashe-Nadrowski and her council slate won the election.<\/p>\n \u201cThe movement to ban data centers is spreading to every corner of the state. This is an issue that unites people across the political spectrum,\u201d said Ben Dziobek, Executive Director of Climate Revolution Action Network (CRAN), the Gen-Z climate advocacy organization leading the push to ban data centers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we just saw in Bayonne is that there\u2019s a price to pay for officials who side with Big Tech over the people who elected them. We\u2019re going to keep winning these fights town by town until we ban data centers statewide.\u201d<\/p>\n Included in the coalition opposing the data centers were CRAN, North New Jersey DSA, Friends of Liberty State Park, and State Senator Angela McKnight (District 31).<\/p>\n Opposition to data centers has risen dramatically in recent months. A\u00a0Stockton University poll<\/a>\u00a0released in early May found that a majority of New Jersey voters are concerned about the growth of artificial intelligence data centers, and 56% would support banning them in their own communities.<\/p>\n