Huge AI data centers are being planned for towns across the country. But in some places, reports say the local officials who are supposed to answer to you have been restricted by non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) from talking about these projects at all.

I'm calling on Congress to ban NDAs that stop public officials from discussing proposed data center projects with the people they serve. I'm also asking every state legislature to pass the same protection now, so no community has to wait.

This isn't a small issue. In March, Sen. Richard Blumenthal's office announced it was looking into how data center companies use NDAs with state and local officials. His office pointed to a case in Arizona where Amazon allegedly tried to stop a Pima County official from speaking publicly about its plans for a $3.6 billion facility.

These projects can reshape whole communities. In Stokes County, North Carolina, commissioners approved a hyperscale data center that the Southern Environmental Law Center says would turn about 1,850 acres of homes-and-farms land near the Dan River into a heavy-industrial zone. Neighbors there raised worries about pollution, backup generators, water use and whether the deal really pays off locally.

Environmental advocate Erin Brockovich is urging people to watch their local zoning agendas, warning in a Facebook post that "It's happening in state after state, and it's coming in fast," as reported by NewsNation.

Whatever you think about AI, this shouldn't be a partisan fight. Data centers may bring in tax money, but they also use a lot of land, power and water. Families deserve to weigh those tradeoffs in the open, before the rezoning vote and not after.

Sign the petition to ban secret data center deals now, before the next vote happens behind closed doors.