What's funny is in my neighborhood there was a data center that was being built in Johnstown Ohio and the residents there made it very clear not in my backyard it was well on its way now it is on hold indefinitely
The powers that be could locate them well outside population centers and cool them with less water and better tech, they would cost more but they would make up the difference by saving court costs.
I finally saw a data center, drove by one under construction in Illinois, even though it is nowhere near me I felt sorry for that community. Surrounded by farmland it will wreak havoc on those poor people.
No, they just don't want fake help for the environment that's actually a scam. They do want to help the environment. That's why they are incentivising closed loop systems.