EagleEye

Bonds Joins Virginia Public Media Podcast to Talk Data Centers and the Environment

Professor of Sociology Eric Bonds was a guest on Virginia Public Media’s podcast, RVA’s Got Issues, to discuss data center policy, water use and sustainability. The podcast summarizes the episode this way: As the data center industry keeps growing, we don’t know a lot about how they use water – or how much they are using. Will Richmond, and the rest of Virginia, go thirsty? Listen to the episode.

Other media mentions for Bonds include:

Data Centers Under Fire for Forcing Local Officials to Sign NDAs (Bloomburg)
Eric Bonds, a sociology professor at the University of Mary Washington, filed public records requests in 2025 with localities in Virginia that had proposed or existing data centers. He found 25 of 31 proposed data center projects involved nondisclosure agreements. 

The data center backlash is reshaping American politics — one community at a time (WAMU, WABE)
A study led by Eric Bonds, a sociology professor at the University of Mary Washington, found that in 31 Virginia localities where there was an existing, approved or proposed data center, nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) had been signed for 25 of them.

AI data centers, explained: Why do tech companies request NDAs? What’s a moratorium? (PolitiFact)
The government parties involved in the NDAs vary, but can include an elected county leader, a city lawyer or economic development official, said Eric Bonds, a University of Mary Washington sociology associate professor.