Outrage over AI data centers is widespread, national, and transpartisan. Recently, Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro and Texas’s Republican Governor Greg Abbott both signed executive orders limiting data centers in their respective states.
Americans of all political varieties increasingly view the whole AI project, as Jim Hightower writes this week, as one of Big Tech’s “grandiose, zillion-dollar schemes to displace human workers with super-intelligent bots. What’s not to like about that?”
“Data centers are notorious energy hogs,” Green America’s Todd Larsen explains this week, “straining grids and raising electric rates nationwide.” As the outrage builds, Todd notes, some tech companies have started promising to build data centers with their own power systems.
That “sounds good on the surface,” Todd notes, “but these dedicated power sources almost always run on natural gas — a polluting fossil fuel.” That could lead to more pollution from fracking and natural gas leaks, and could still raise the cost of power by driving up demand for natural gas. He calls on companies to instead spend some of their billions to power their facilities with renewable energy, like China appears to be doing.
Of course, as Jim Hightower adds, “There are other major problems, too” — from noise to water use to a well-founded mistrust of Big Tech.
Also this week, Carter Dougherty explains how credit card swipe fees are bankrupting small businesses — and highlights bipartisan legislation to lower them.
New This Week…
AI’s Natural Gas Addiction Could Be Deadly for Communities | Todd Larsen
Tech companies should be bringing their own renewable energy to power data centers, not burning fossil fuels or driving up costs for consumers.
Stop Letting Credit Card Companies Squeeze Small Businesses | Carter Dougherty
Lobby groups are spending big to stop bipartisan legislation aimed at lowering the exorbitant “swipe fees” charged by the credit card industry.
Big Tech Is Building a New Feudalism | Jim Hightower
Maybe we should question this AI “future” before surrendering to it.
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Will the federal government have the guts to do what it takes to protect the American people’s guts?
The Fight Against Flock Cameras Is Just the Beginning | Farrah Hassen
As more communities wake up to the danger of mass surveillance, the solution isn’t trading one brand of camera for another. It’s regulating the whole industry.
When Disabled People Are Priced Out, We Lose More Than a Home | Janiah Miller
Disabled people like me rely on our neighbors to make day-to-day life possible. The high cost of housing threatens these relationships.
Workers’ Rights Are Plummeting Under Trump — and the World Is Taking Notice | Luc Triangle, Cathy Feingold
The U.S. now appears on a watchlist alongside countries like Zimbabwe and the Philippines.
