Though digital data is often imagined as ethereal, the storage, processing, and distribution of such data is bound to tangible internet infrastructure. The “data center” is a critical component of this infrastructure. Inside data center buildings are racks of whirring computer equipment that support the ongoing expansion of the cloud computing industry. Because data centers generate waste heat from their constantly running computer equipment and require sophisticated cooling systems, they are often sites of immense electricity and water use. The high resource demand and ongoing growth of this industry mean that data centers are an important consideration in plans to transition to renewable energy and mitigate climate change. Their high resource demand also raises questions of energy prioritization and justice at the local level, especially in circumstances where the energy grid is at capacity. In this paper I draw on insights from the law and geography methodology to analyze the materiality of cloud computing. In so doing, my analysis also considers the inherent spatiality of land use and zoning by-laws and their potential to regulate the data center industry. I argue that (1) data centers are technologies imbued with extractive politics, and (2) the metaphor of the “cloud” obscures the material internet and its high resource demand. I make recommendations to land use law, specifically the implementation of conditional zoning and performance zoning for data center land uses. These proposals aim to ensure that there are opportunities for local participation in the allocation of resources as well as setting minimum efficiency thresholds for large scale data centers.
This article provides an overview of the variety of laws that currently regulate the transportation of children in motor vehicles in Canada, evaluates what changes are required if autonomous vehicles replace human drivers, and recommends the best options for legally regulating the transportation of unaccompanied children in autonomous vehicles.