More than 200 environmental groups demand halt to new US datacenters
www.theguardian.com
Exclusive: Congress urged to act against energy-hungry facilities blamed for increasing bills and worsening climate crisis

Exclusive: Congress urged to act against energy-hungry facilities blamed for increasing bills and worsening climate crisis

A coalition of more than 230 environmental groups has demanded a national moratorium on new data centers in the US, the latest salvo in a growing backlash to a booming artificial intelligence industry that has been blamed for escalating electricity bills and worsening the climate crisis.

The green groups, including Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, Food & Water Watch and dozens of local organizations, have urged members of Congress halt the proliferation of energy-hungry data centers, accusing them of causing planet-heating emissions, sucking up vast amounts of water and for exacerbating electricity bill increases that have hit Americans this year.

“The rapid, largely unregulated rise of data centers to fuel the AI and crypto frenzy is disrupting communities across the country and threatening Americans’ economic, environmental, climate and water security,” the letter states, adding that approval of new data centers should be paused until new regulations are put in place.

  • AA5B@lemmy.world
    1·
    2 days ago

    Perhaps they can invest in additional power transmission and clean generation.

    Never thought I’d say this but for my area apparently it’s the Jones’s Act. Here in New England as we shut down coal and nuclear we were never able to get natural gas pipelines. Now that there are better options our attempts to build power distribution lines keep getting blocked. Our offshore wind farms keep getting blocked. We’re stuck on natural gas but without a pipeline we’re stuck importing LNG by ship and because of the Jones Act and there being no American built LNG ships, the only choice is importing from other countries

    Let us build our wind farms. Help coordinate with other states so we can build long distance power lines to our buddies in Ontario

    The datacenter bubble is a Republican chance to platform energy independence, cheap and available energy. Build more businesses, help the economy …. Let’s create solar and wind incentives to speed that up and let’s go gangbusters on power distribution to make America great.

    Forget these natural gas turbines on a five year back order. Are they made in American? I didn’t think so. Time to go gangbuster on solar where most of the cost is local labor