No person, business, corporation or government should make profits by compromising the environment. Breaking that law has given us this tragic climate crisis.
I was disappointed by the lack of a more detailed discussion of data center water use. Hyperscale facilities can use up to 5 million gallons per day under peak operating conditions on hot days, equivalent to the daily needs of a town of 50,000 residents. That's not a problem you can just throw money at.
Noah Smith points out that the threat AI poses by outbidding labor (i.e. humans) for scarce resources (i.e. energy). I say a hefty CO2 tax directed at data centers might be in order, which could fund grid investment among other things.
I think we need to see a true and complete cost-benefit analysis of operating datacenters for local communities to be able to state for sure that they provide net economic benefits even in the short term. If this information is not readily available, that is a red flag.
Excellent presentation. I'm left with the thought that reacting to the threat of data centers is complicated and probably not appreciated by many people involved in the issue. It will be interesting to see how the issues raised by Climate Cabinet play out.
I get frustrated when I hear Ezra Klein like arguments about how NIMBYs are blocking economic growth
The reality is we’re conflating stock market surges with long term development
The question should always be “in what tangible way do those in the community benefit?”
And the answer with these hyper scalers tends to be “they don’t, sit down and shut up”
I’m sick of us blaming any of these issues on “the people”
All of our economic issues are “systemic” and they’re designed this way by shit economic policy (only there to benefit the already wealthy)
Or local govs don’t do much good with our taxes as is (they usually just continue widening the same roads and freeways, adding more Walmarts, targets, and luxury housing), why give them a few more millions?
No person, business, corporation or government should make profits by compromising the environment. Breaking that law has given us this tragic climate crisis.
I was disappointed by the lack of a more detailed discussion of data center water use. Hyperscale facilities can use up to 5 million gallons per day under peak operating conditions on hot days, equivalent to the daily needs of a town of 50,000 residents. That's not a problem you can just throw money at.
The organization you refer to near the end is ALEC.
Noah Smith points out that the threat AI poses by outbidding labor (i.e. humans) for scarce resources (i.e. energy). I say a hefty CO2 tax directed at data centers might be in order, which could fund grid investment among other things.
Noah Smith: https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/plentiful-high-paying-jobs-in-the-ff9
I think we need to see a true and complete cost-benefit analysis of operating datacenters for local communities to be able to state for sure that they provide net economic benefits even in the short term. If this information is not readily available, that is a red flag.
Excellent presentation. I'm left with the thought that reacting to the threat of data centers is complicated and probably not appreciated by many people involved in the issue. It will be interesting to see how the issues raised by Climate Cabinet play out.
I get frustrated when I hear Ezra Klein like arguments about how NIMBYs are blocking economic growth
The reality is we’re conflating stock market surges with long term development
The question should always be “in what tangible way do those in the community benefit?”
And the answer with these hyper scalers tends to be “they don’t, sit down and shut up”
I’m sick of us blaming any of these issues on “the people”
All of our economic issues are “systemic” and they’re designed this way by shit economic policy (only there to benefit the already wealthy)
Or local govs don’t do much good with our taxes as is (they usually just continue widening the same roads and freeways, adding more Walmarts, targets, and luxury housing), why give them a few more millions?