ICYMI: Financial Times: Donald Trump’s attack on green energy could hurt US in AI race, data centres warn
tags
Washington, D.C. — Today, The Financial Times reported that Donald Trump’s attacks on clean energy threaten to drive up costs and undermine efforts to meet the American tech industry’s rapidly growing power demand. The article warns that if Trump continues on his reckless path of defunding and undermining the clean energy industry, the U.S. could lose the global artificial intelligence race. The warning comes as Republicans in Congress decide whether to gut America’s clean energy investments to help pay for their budget legislation.
The Financial Times – Donald Trump’s attack on green energy could hurt US in AI race, data centres warn
“The US data centre industry has warned that the Trump administration’s crackdown on renewable energy could slow its growth and undermine Washington’s goal to win the global artificial intelligence race.”
“Renewables have become a flashpoint since Donald Trump re-entered the White House, with his administration suspending clean energy developments on federal land, pausing federal loans and last month cancelling high-profile projects such as Equinor’s $5bn Empire Wind site.”
“For tech companies struggling to secure reliable energy supplies to power and train AI, a clampdown on renewables could create power bottlenecks, drive up costs and push operators towards dirtier energy, experts said.” …
“The Trump administration has warned that losing the AI race to China is a bigger threat to the world than global warming and has advocated increasing the use of fossil fuels to power them. But experts warn it will be difficult to meet surging demand without adding a lot more renewable energy capacity, which is faster and cheaper to deploy than building gas power plants.”…
“Renewable energy can often be less expensive than alternatives because there’s no fuel to purchase. Some of the purchasing agreements we have signed historically were ‘no brainers’ because they reduced our power costs,” said Kevin Miller, vice-president of Global Data Centers at Amazon Web Services.”