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Courtesy of the Nashville Zoo<\/p>\n
The zoo is not yet rolling over in the fight against the data center development. A spokesperson told Fortune that its land use attorney has filed a zoning appeal with the city with hopes to overturn the permits filed by the company behind the data center. The zoo is also working with an environmental rights lawyer to see if it can take any legal action regarding the protected species it houses.<\/p>\n
A petition<\/a> the zoo started earlier this month to protest the data center plans has also collected more than 533,700 signatures as of Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n \u201cHow are we to know this new data center will not lead to irreversible damage to the animals we exist to protect?\u201d the petition reads.<\/p>\n Stars take sides<\/p>\n The zoo\u2019s fight against the proposed data center has attracted the support of celebrities like country music star Brad Paisley, whose wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, previously served on the board of directors of the Nashville Zoo. A spokesperson for the zoo confirmed she is not currently a board member.<\/p>\n Paisley, a three-time Grammy award winning artist who has lived in Nashville for decades with his wife, urged his fans in a series of videos on social media to oppose the data center project next to the Nashville Zoo.<\/p>\n In a video<\/a> earlier this month Paisley called the proposed Nashville data center \u201can enormous monstrosity\u201d and an \u201cabsolute eyesore,\u201d and urged his followers to sign the zoo\u2019s petition opposing it.\u00a0<\/p>\n His efforts led to a surge in signatures and media attention, yet, in a followup video last week<\/a>, the country singer behind the hit \u201cWhiskey Lullaby,\u201d reminded his fans that the issue with the Nashville data center is \u201cby no means resolved yet.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In the video last week, Paisley criticized the data center project not just because of the potential effects on the zoo but also because of his opposition to AI. Paisley said in the followup video that AI takes intellectual property without permission and is putting musical artists out of work. The data center proposal, he argued, is being pushed through in a similar way.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNow they\u2019re trying to build a data center, a monstrosity, next to the zoo kind of in the same way, where they\u2019re not asking for permission and it\u2019s also going to really affect something here in Nashville that\u2019s one of the beloved parts of our town,\u201d Paisley said in the video.<\/p>\n Paisley joins a growing chorus of musical artists who have pushed back against AI and how it affects the livelihoods of creatives. In 2024, more than 200 artists, including Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, and Stevie Wonder, signed an open letter condemning what they called the \u201cpredatory use of AI\u201d to take musicians\u2019 intellectual property. In February, another 1,000 artists released a silent album to protest the U.K.\u2019s proposed copyright changes that would allow AI companies to train models on artists\u2019 work without a license. The U.K. later backed away from the proposal.<\/p>\n To be sure, a spokesperson for DC BLOX said in a statement to Fortune that the data center being built in Nashville \u201cis designed to function as a digital connectivity hub and not as a large AI factory.\u201d While the spokesperson said the company was aware of Paisley\u2019s social media criticism, they argued data centers like the one being proposed in Nashville actually help artists like Paisley.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is this digital infrastructure that enables artists like Mr. Paisley to distribute and stream their music globally, engage with fans on social media, and utilize video platforms to share their voices,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n Paisley\u2019s representatives did not immediately respond to Fortune\u2019s request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Paisley is the most recent celebrity to raise his voice against AI data centers, but he is hardly alone in his opinion. Several other celebrities commented in support of his first post on Instagram, including musicians like Jack White of The White Stripes and country music artist Morgane Stapleton.<\/p>\n Fellow musical artists Sheryl Crow and Brandon Lake also commented on Paisley\u2019s Instagram post saying they would sign the petition.\u00a0<\/p>\n Others, including actress Jane Fonda have gone further. Last week, the actress, who has advocated for many causes since the 1970s, attended a protest against a data center being built in Denver\u2019s Elyria-Swansea neighborhood.\u00a0<\/p>\n Paisley in his most recent video called on elected leaders to find a solution. In the meantime, though, he urged Nashville residents to come together to oppose the data center proposal.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, Nashville, we got to fight this. We have to set a precedent, because if we can win this and we can stop that from happening where we don\u2019t want it, it\u2019s a precedent that will help other communities,\u201d Paisley said.<\/p>\n Data centers worldwide consumed a total of 448 terawatt hours of energy last year, more than the entire nation of Saudi Arabia<\/a>, according to United Nations researchers. That number is expected to double by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n DC BLOX\u2019s chief revenue officer and executive vice president told the New York Times<\/a> that the zoo is located in an area already designated for industrial use. The property where DC BLOX is set to build once housed a much smaller data center.<\/p>\n The Center for Biological Diversity and the Southern Environmental Law Center sent a joint letter to DC BLOX as well as the Nashville city council last week in support of the Nashville Zoo. The environmental organizations raised concerns about the nearby data center\u2019s potential effects, including noise and light pollution that could alter animals\u2019 breeding patterns and potentially heighten their stress responses. The organizations argue the data center\u2019s developer risks running afoul of federal environmental laws with the project.<\/p>\n \u201cDC BLOX would be liable if its activities associated with the proposed data center campus annoy the endangered species nearby and\/or harm them through habitat modification or degradation to such an extent that these activities significantly disrupt and\/or impair the species\u2019 behavioral patterns,\u201d the letter reads.<\/p>\n It is unclear what will happen as of yet with the proposed data center near the Nashville Zoo.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last week, a lawyer for DC Blox told<\/a> members of Nashville\u2019s Metropolitan Planning Commission that, \u201cThis building is vested; they are going to build it there. We already have the permits in hand; we just want to work with the community to find a solution.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The planning commission, for its part, recently recommended Nashville\u2019s city council pass two bills<\/a>, the first of which establishes zoning rules for data centers, which don\u2019t currently exist. The second bill would institute a moratorium on new data center projects until new rules are in place.\u00a0<\/p>\n The planning commission will examine both bills during a public hearing on July 7.\u00a0<\/p>\n