Dear Supporters,
In addition to proposing the removal of some environmental regulations and ensuring access to new energy resources, the White House is considering an Executive Order to remove oversight to allow Data Centers to be built on “federal lands,” which would include our National Parks. (Access this link for an easy-to-send message to add your voice to stop this.)
So far, Amazon and other tech corporations have avoided paying the full cost of the energy their data centers require by negotiating tax breaks and subsidies with local governments and utility companies – all while passing the costs on to people in the form of higher utility bills and dirtier air.
White House weighing executive action to spur data centers – E&E News by POLITICO
“President Joe Biden’s administration is considering executive action to fast-track the construction of data centers key to artificial intelligence — with potentially much looser environmental constraints, two people familiar with the discussions said Wednesday.”
“The exact nature of the action is still under discussion, the people said. They said the White House was discussing using the Defense Production Act, which gives the president broad emergency powers, to achieve its goal.
The action could allow data centers to exceed pollution limits, open federal lands to data center construction and give data centers priority access to available power supply, the people said. One of the sources said the policy under discussion would take the form of an executive order.”
“How we got here: Boosting energy production to power AI has become a significant D.C. policy driver in recent months. Spiraling energy demand for AI and other tech stands to soon outstrip supply. Companies like Microsoft and Amazon have announced deals with nuclear power plants for exclusive Saccess to their power generation as they search for zero-emission energy in order to hold onto climate commitments. But the surge is also fueling greater demand for polluting natural gas-fired power production and creating new opportunities for oil giants.”
“Republicans seized on the energy demand for AI during elections, and President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to “DRILL BABY DRILL” to expand energy supply in an effort to beat China on advanced AI.”
“Biden, meanwhile, focused his earlier AI policies primarily on safety standards and federal adoption of the technology. An October 2023 executive order invoked the Defense Production Act to require AI developers to report to the Commerce Department on advanced systems that use immense computing power — a requirement Republicans and tech companies opposed.”
What good is a data center without power? We are concerned this action could also include fast track building-out of new power for data center needs: Gas Plants, Gas pipelines, Oil drilling, and Nuclear Reactors.
This is NOT a partisan issue. This is about how citizens have a right to have our voices considered when this kind of industrialization impacts our communities, our homes, our natural and historic resources, AND our pocketbooks.
What happens when those regulations are removed? Data Centers and their power needs inch closer and closer to your homes, to your rights to clean water and to clean air.
What happens if air pollution standards are waived? One immediate impact is all those thousands of Diesel Generators near your home, the size of a train’s freight car, can kick on to protect the power grid for the data centers; while massive new generation projects to support the data center industry are steamrolled through the permitting process. Don’t forget the waiver that the Virginia Dept of Environmental Quality tried sneaking in February of 2023. Have you ever smelled diesel fumes? Ever breathed them in? The stench, the harm to vulnerable lungs… it’s incomprehensible to imagine this being permitted streaming into our neighborhoods.
Is THIS really representative Democracy?
Big Tech CEOs visit the White House on September 12th, and the next thing you know, our Department of Energy is messaging we need 200 new Nuclear Power Plants to meet a private industry’s power demand to ensure that their big investment, and THEIR investors, are protected!?
Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic and Google leaders meet with White House to talk AI
“Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Microsoft president Brad Smith, Google President Ruth Porat and Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman all attended the meeting, which focused on bringing the public and private sectors together to talk about artificial intelligence’s energy usage, data center capacity, semiconductor manufacturing, and grid capacity, sources familiar with the meeting confirmed.”
TWO WEEKS LATER……
The U.S. wants to triple nuclear power by 2050. America’s coal communities could provide a pathway.
“The U.S. needs to add 200 gigawatts of nuclear, Goff told CNBC in an interview. This is roughly equivalent to building 200 new plants, based on the current average reactor size in the U.S. fleet of about a gigawatt.”
“Microsoft will purchase electricity from the plant to help power its data centers. Goff said the advent of large data centers that consume up to a gigawatt of electricity only reinforces the need for new reactors.”
-> Please sign this easy click-to-send letter expressing your opposition to allowing the Data Center Industry to “streamline,” or steamroll, through your neighborhood, possibly risking YOUR most important assets: your home value, your clean air and water, and your overall quality of life.
-> Call Senators Kaine and Warner: Kaine 202-224-4024; Warner 202-224-2023.
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Check out these videos:
The Hidden Cost of the Internet: What If It Landed on Your Head? What are the REAL costs of an AI search.
Watch this video of Jeff Bezos, admitting we have traded our “natural” world for how we are living today. What does this mean for our future? The Interview: From Amazon to Space — Jeff Bezos Talks Innovation, Progress and What’s Next
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