Pause the Buildout.
Govern the Future.
"The future isn't inevitable. It's being decided."
Artificial intelligence may feel weightless, but its infrastructure is not. Across the Columbia Basin, a new generation of data centers is reshaping our relationship to land, water, energy, and public resources.
Indigenous Just Transition is calling for a one-year statewide moratorium on approvals for new large-scale data center development while Washington builds the rules, relationships, and accountability this moment requires.
Washington has a choice.
Why Are We Calling for a Pause?
Artificial intelligence is changing quickly. Its infrastructure is changing even faster. Behind every AI model, cloud platform, and digital service are physical facilities that require:
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electricity
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water
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land
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transmission infrastructure
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public investment
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permitting
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and political decisions that communities may live with for generations.
Across Washington, data center development is accelerating faster than the systems meant to govern it.
We believe Washington needs time.
Not forever.
One year.
Long enough to understand:
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what is being built
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who benefits
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who bears the costs
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how Tribal sovereignty is being respected
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what future generations will inherit
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what rules communities deserve before another generation of infrastructure becomes locked into place.
We are not asking
Washington to reject
technology.
We are asking
Washington to govern it.
The Infrastructure Behind AI
Al is not floating somewhere in the cloud. Its infrastructure exists in real places, on real landscapes, connected to real rivers, communities, and ecosystems. The decisions we make today will shape Washington for decades.
Data Centers
Large-scale facilities housing servers and computing systems.
Electricity
High and growing power demand
driving new energy
infrastructure.
Water
Critical for cooling consumption and environmental impacts.
Land
Sitting decisions affect ecosystems, communities and cultural landscapes.
Salmon
Rivers and salmon habitat are central to Tribal cultures, rights and ecosystems.
Public Policy
Rules, inventives and permits shape what gets built and where.
Tribal
Sovereignty
Decisions must respect Treaty rights and government-to-government relationships.
Communities
Local communities deserve a seat at the table—early and meaningfully.
WHAT'S AT STAKE?
Water
Communities deserve to understand what new industrial demand means tor rivers, watersheds, agriculture,fisheries, and future generations.
Energy
Data centers are becoming some of the largest new electricity loads in the region.
Those decisions affect far more then one company. They shape how energy is produced, who pays for intrastructure, and what gets built next.
Salmon + Treaty Rights
Electricity, water, salmon and Tribal sovereignty cannot be separated into neat little boxes. Infrastructure decisions must respect Treaty rights and meaningful government-to-government relationships.
Democracy
A public comment period is not the same thing as meaningful power. Communities deserve to participate before decisions become difficult to reverse.
Democracy has an interface.
We should design it like it matters.
Why a 1-year moratorium?
Seattle has already adopted a temporary pause while it studies the impacts of data centers on electricity, water, land use, utility rates, employment, and public health. Washington should do the same statewide.
A one-year pause is:
✅ not a permanent ban
✅ not anti-technology
✅ not anti-innovation
✅ not anti-development
It is:
✅ pro-accountability
✅ pro-democracy
✅ pro-water
✅ pro-salmon
✅ pro-community
✅ pro-sovereignty
What Should Washington Accomplish During the Pause?
Full transparency
Who owns the project?
How large is it?
How much electricity and water will it require?
What subsidies support it?
Ratepayer Protections
Extraordinary industrial demand should not shift infrastructure costs onto households and small businesses.
Early Tribal Engagement
Public notice is not consultation.
Consultation is not consent.
Tribal governments must be involved early.
Cumulative-impact review
Who owns the project?
How large is it?
How much electricity and water will it require?
What subsidies support it?
Water Protections
Washington needs stronger disclosure, monitoring, and accountability.
Better Public Participation
People deserve to know:
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what is being proposed;
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who owns it;
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when decisions are being made;
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and what they can influence.
Clear siting standards
Some places carry greater ecological and cultural burdens than others.
Those realities matter.
Meaningful Community Benefits
Benefits should be enforceable, locally defined, and proportionate to the scale of the infrastructure.
What This Campaign is NOT
This campaign is not:
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anti-AI
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anti-technology
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anti-jobs
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anti-development.
It is recognition that infrastructure of this scale should not outrun democracy. Washington has faced moments like this before. The infrastructure may be new. The pattern of asking communities to absorb the consequences after the biggest decisions have already been made is not.
We Still Have Choices
Someone chooses the land.
Someone approves the power.
Someone allocates the water.
Someone writes the tax policy.
Someone issues the permits.
Those are choices.
Communities deserve a meaningful place in making them.
For one year, Washington should slow down long enough to get this right.