Amazon Employees Show Up to City Council Meeting to Demand Limits on Data Centers

Three Amazon employees publicly urged the Seattle City Council to enact new regulations on data centers, marking what activists describe as a significant escalation in the US protest movement against rapid data center construction. Senior software engineer Liesl Wigand emphasized that "local governments, in collaboration with community stakeholders, should be setting the terms for data center buildout" to prevent "Big Tech burn[ing] Seattle to win the AI race." Other engineers, Patrick Schloesser and Darius Irani, called for requirements that data centers supply more renewable energy, provide power storage, and increase transparency regarding water and electricity usage, along with new taxes on tech companies.

The employees, members of Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, voiced concerns that unchecked data center development threatens Seattle's environment, economy, and safety, potentially driving up water and power prices and increasing carbon emissions. Their testimonies came as Seattle city officials are considering a one-year moratorium on issuing data center permits to establish specific regulations, which currently do not exist.

The Land Use and Sustainability Committee, a five-member panel, subsequently voted to advance the proposed moratorium after hearing from approximately 30 public speakers, most of whom favored the measure. While the Amazon workers did not explicitly endorse the pause, they articulated the benefits of establishing broader industry rules. This advocacy highlights growing frustration among tech workers across multiple companies regarding their employers' intense focus on AI development and its environmental and social impacts.