Environmental advocates, students and community groups gathered at Seed Song Farm on Tuesday for the fourth stop of a statewide “Energy Hog” bus tour calling on New York to crack down on AI data centers and other energy-intensive infrastructure. Participants urged Gov. Kathy Hochul and state leaders to uphold New York’s landmark Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, rein in energy-hungry AI data centers and cryptocurrency-mining facilities and protect New Yorkers from rising utility costs.

The rally featured a bus with a pig-themed exterior flanked by students and environmentalists demanding that the state protect New Yorkers’ wallets and backyards from AI data centers and other energy-intensive infrastructure.

“We cannot allow AI data centers to drive up energy costs, pollute our communities, and intensify the climate crisis,” said Eric Wood, senior environmental program coordinator for the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). “Everywhere we see these facilities pop up, we see energy grids strained and utility prices increase. At a time when we are already facing sky-high energy costs, Governor Hochul is siding with polluters over people — backtracking on New York’s Climate Law and handing corporate ‘energy hogs’ a free pass."

"AI data centers create few jobs, consume unsustainable amounts of energy, and threaten to drive up electricity costs for everyone," said Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger, who was on hand for Tuesday’s event. "I urge our leaders in Albany to pass and sign into law Bill S9144/A10141, introduced by Senator Liz Krueger and Assembly Member Anna Kelles, to pause new data center permits until the necessary regulatory guardrails are in place to protect our communities from the harmful impacts of these energy-guzzling facilities. In Ulster County, we want to see the kind of economic development that delivers meaningful economic benefits to our communities and will support, rather than undermine, affordability and climate protection."