Around 200 people crowded inside the Missouri Capitol rotunda for a rally Wednesday demanding a statewide moratorium on the construction of hyperscale data centers.
After the rally, protesters marched to the Governor's Mansion to deliver petitions.
The rally coincided with the annual veto session that lawmakers must attend every September. It was also supposed to be the same day as a House hearing on data centers. But that hearing was canceled.
The legislature has yet to act on data centers, with one bill on the topic only getting a House hearing last year. Gov. Mike Kehoe has repeatedly touted the benefits of building data centers in the state.
At one point at the rally, attendees lifted green sheets of paper to symbolize voting in favor of and passing a statewide data center moratorium.
One of the speakers calling for the moratorium was Gabe Cotton of Festus, where voters ousted members of its city council who were in favor of data centers.
He said he's not against development, but he is against irresponsible and destructive development.
"We need to protect Missouri towns, and we need to ensure residents have a genuine democratic voice in the process. You can delay democracy, but you cannot stop it, and we aren't going anywhere until we the people win," Cotton said.
The rally highlighted other demands related to data centers.
Some of those are health and environmental protections, barring tax incentives for the development of data centers as well as requiring transparency and community buy-in for those projects.
Speakers also lambasted the artificial intelligence that hyperscale data centers support.
Kansas City teacher Clare Barclay, one of the speakers at the rally, said AI is harming students on multiple fronts.
"Our children know this future is uncertain: the environment, the job market, the economy, democracy. They feel it deeply, and they look to the adults in their lives to not blindly or gleefully sell out their future for a little bit of short-term profit," Barclay said.
It is unclear if lawmakers will address data centers when the 2027 session convenes in January.
While some legislators have brought up the topic as something the state needs to discuss, others believe it should be up to local governments to decide.
A 31-year-old Kansas City man was arrested on the march to the mansion. Police said he continued to occupy the street rather than the sidewalk after police told him not to.
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