This story was originally published by Capital B and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. ​

For Elijah Lee, protecting the environment has always been about what’s happening close to home.

He grew up in a predominantly Black, low-income community in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, and went to school next to a paper mill that filled the air with pollution. He always wondered why it seemed like the only employment option for people in town.

Now, as data centers expand in Virginia, where he moved as a teenager, he fears the political promises of data center-driven economic growth won’t reach him or his generation.

At 18, Lee is preparing to vote in his first midterm election. Climate policy ranks among his top concerns.…