Guardian opinion piece questions necessity of large datacentres
First Dog on the Moon’s commentary published on 10 June 2026 criticises the construction of massive facilities during economic hardship.
An opinion piece published in The Guardian on 10 June 2026 has questioned the necessity of constructing large-scale datacentres. The article, authored by the cartoonist collective First Dog on the Moon, argues that the environmental and community impacts of these facilities are unjustified, particularly given current economic conditions.
The authors contend that the construction of such infrastructure imposes excessive heat, pollution, and contributions to climate change on local communities. The piece suggests that these significant environmental costs are disproportionate to the utility provided by the facilities, especially when the economy is facing hardship.
In critiquing the value of the computing demands met by these centres, the article highlights the disparity between resource consumption and digital output. It specifically cites the generation of images of "funny dancing cabbages" as an example of trivial computing tasks that do not warrant the associated environmental degradation.
The commentary frames the debate around datacentres as a matter of community impact and resource allocation. By juxtaposing the noise and water usage of these facilities against low-value digital outputs, the authors argue against the continued expansion of such infrastructure at this time.
As an opinion piece, the article presents a subjective viewpoint rather than an established factual consensus. The claims regarding the net negative impact of datacentres reflect the authors' perspective, and specific data on energy and water usage mentioned in the text are not independently verified within the source material.