Amazon data center protests fail to stop development getting green light

Amazon's plans to expand its data center footprint in Northern Virginia, with a huge investment of $35 billion, is continuing to receive pushback from protestors and residents. Northern Virginia has the largest concentration of data centers in the world, being the epicenter of a data center boom in recent years. The state continues to be accommodating to the industry's expansion plans, including by permitting Amazon with a specific use permit. Those opposing the giant's development have perservered throughout, with actor Robert Duvall even recently joining the fight. He joined the 100-plus speakers that attended a recent town hall meeting that discussed the development of the 220,000-square-foot data center in Warrenton, and lasted for eight hours. 

At the meeting, Duvall said that he had been a resident in Virginia for the last 27 years, calling the state the "last station before heaven" and calling for it to be preserved that way. 

As reported by Baxtel, the giant received approval for the data center in Warrenton, with the town council voting 4-3. At the time, the opposition group, the Piedmont Environmental Council, expressed its disappointment at the result: "What comes next is not entirely clear, but we will continue to evaluate and prepare, along with our partners, Citizens for Fauquier County and Protect Fauquier."