photo by Ken Schles
Ahead of scheduled Monday vote, New Yorkers show at Schumer’s home to demand Dems squash BAAJA bill that would lead to more AI data centers
On Friday morning, protestors gathered outside Senator Schumer’s Brooklyn home with an AI data center prop to demand that Schumer and the Democrats put a stop to the Trump-supported Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (BAAJA).
With the sweeping Federal permitting package expected to face a critical Senate vote on Monday, New Yorkers called for an end to what they called a “dirty deal” that enables AI data center expansion and more polluting fracked gas projects.
The protest came just hours after Rep. Jeffries publicly opposed the permitting bill, citing concerns “about the legislation’s proposed changes to bedrock environmental laws and protections for tribal sovereignty,” according to exclusive reporting by Politico.
Protesters also called on Rep. Jeffries to stop the deal but given Jeffries’ new stance, saved their ire for Senator Schumer, demanding he stop allowing the key cloture vote to set up passing the deal during the lame duck session.
“Americans are crystal clear: Democrats in Washington should not cozy up to the Republicans and Big Tech to build more data centers. Instead of advancing this dirty data center deal, Chuck Schumer should pull the plug on collaboration with Republicans, especially in the lame duck after this incredible election so many of us worked so hard to win,” said Pete Sikora, Climate & Inequality Campaigns Director with New York Communities for Change.
If passed, the bill would hand an enormous advantage to dirty, costly fracked gas projects to power data centers by gutting foundational environmental and historic preservation laws. Outrageously, it even allows polluting corporations to sue for large taxpayer payouts if their permit is rejected. Both oil & gas companies and the tech industry are backing the bill amidst the rise in energy-guzzling AI data centers that use massive numbers of polluting gas turbines for electricity.
As Democrats prepare to control both chambers, the protest marks an early test for Sen. Schumer and Rep. Jeffries – and how the party will address environmental and community protections in its lackluster energy agenda, which should include a moratorium on new data center development.
New Yorkers urged the two Democrats, who are vying for leadership positions, to take a decisive stand against Big Tech and Big Oil and protect communities from the environmental costs of AI expansion. Protestors held a large blank check, symbolizing the blank check Congress will be writing to Big Tech if they approve the bill. They also staged a massive prop data center, putting the big, creepy structure in front of Schumer’s building to dramatize their points.
The bill is strongly opposed by a wide array of environmental, environmental justice, civil rights, immigrant rights, and Native American organizations, who highlight the critically dangerous provisions in the bill:
- Gutting tribal consultation and sovereignty rights by eviscerating Section 106 of the National History Preservation Act
- Allowing the oil and gas industry to proliferate new projects with less permitting and federal oversight than ever before
- Rolling back the Clean Water Act
- Undermining the Endangered Species Act
- Slashing the National Environmental Policy Act
New Yorkers were joined on Friday by activists and community leaders with 350Brooklyn, Climate Defenders, Climate Families NYC, Food & Water Watch, Indivisible Brooklyn, and New York Communities for Change, all voicing their demand that Sen. Schumer stop the bill from advancing to a vote, which would enable Republicans to pass it.
“On Tuesday, the American people delivered a massive rebuke to Donald Trump’s Big Tech agenda, rejecting their greedy schemes to raise our utility bills, devour our land and water, and build more fracked gas pipelines and power plants,” said Eric Weltman, a senior organizer with Food & Water Watch. “On Tuesday, data centers were on the ballot and the voters in New York and across the nation said no. The big question for Chuck Schumer: Will his first action be to rubber stamp Big Tech’s wish list?”
“BAAJA will make it easier to build pipelines and data centers and should not get a vote in the lame duck,” said Liat Olenick of Climate Families NYC. “New York families deserve better than a dirty deal that will line the pockets of big tech and fossil fuel billionaires at the expense of our communities, futures and health. Americans delivered a mandate for community control and against data centers on Tuesday. Sen. Schumer should heed the voices of his constituents and people across the country and cancel Monday’s vote.”
Protestors plan to continue their presence outside Schumer’s home with the data center prop all through this weekend, and will protest at his Manhattan office on Monday before the expected vote.