"The new data bucked the general trend of declining emissions, as booming electricity demand and higher natural gas prices gave coal a temporary opening in the market."
"Four million Americans live within 1 mile of a data center. The communities closest to them are 'overwhelmingly' non-white."
Federal regulators will allow tech companies to effectively plug massive data centers directly into power plants, issuing a long-awaited order Thursday, as the Trump administration urges them to help the U.S. lead the world in artificial intelligence and revive domestic manufacturing.
"Critics fear Georgia Power’s $16.3 billion investment in fossil-gas plants and batteries will jack up customers’ bills if data centers don’t show up as forecasted."
"Tech companies and lobbyists are investing millions of dollars to tackle a new political problem for the industry: Data centers, the lifeblood of the growing artificial intelligence economy, are becoming toxic with voters."
"The president’s order to limit states’ ability to regulate the spread of artificial intelligence is poised to set off political and legal fireworks that mirror his efforts to curb climate action."
"States facing drought and dwindling groundwater supplies are seeking to pull back the curtain on water use at data centers, in a push for transparency that has scrambled traditional partisan alliances."
"A coalition of more than 230 environmental groups has demanded a national moratorium on new datacenters 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 Trump administration is scrambling to ensure there’s enough electricity to power new data centers and stem rising utility bills — even as it dismantles some critical programs designed to help solve the problem."
"The EPA is prioritizing review of new chemicals to be used in data centers. Experts say this could lead to the fast approval of new types of forever chemicals — with limited oversight."
