The figures come from Garman's account of the situation: he said projects worth $68 billion were blocked in the second quarter of 2026 alone, and that roughly 100 moratoriums are under consideration nationwide. If they go through, he argued, "the US could be writing its own losing ticket to this race, and the consequences would last generations." He also noted that, unlike transport infrastructure, this buildout is funded by private firms rather than taxpayers.

The post dismisses several common complaints as myths. Garman said data centres use "very little water relative to other industries", and called claims that they drive up energy bills "misleading and convenient scapegoating", arguing that AI is merely accelerating power grid expansion that was always coming, and that new capacity should eventually mean flat or lower rates for residents. On pollution, he said backup diesel generators are rarely used, though that does not address concerns about gas turbines powering off-grid sites, an issue that drew criticism when Elon Musk reportedly used unlicensed turbines at the Colossus data centre.

Alongside the warnings, Amazon announced its "Built Together" initiative, pledging more than $1 billion over the next five years for community-chosen priorities such as education, job training and energy affordability. It says it has already contributed over $1 billion to US communities, expects about $3 billion in taxes for St. Joseph County, Indiana over time, and runs education programmes with more than 10,000 educators and learners enrolled. Garman also suggested, without naming sources, that foreign countries may be seeding misinformation about data centres to slow the US down.