According to Politico, “Data centers are quickly becoming the next big political issue. And neither party has figured out how to run on them.”
These sprawling complexes are the infrastructure necessary to run AI. Some 680 are being planned across the country. They will provide jobs, but they will also eat up 9%-17% of the nation’s electricity, not to mention massive amounts of water to cool the electronic components.
President Trump has said that the AI companies will pay for the data centers (though whether this is possible is questioned), but he has promised that the government will help out with the permits and infrastructure.
Complicating the politics of it all, President Trump is all in when it comes to AI, but many grass roots Republicans oppose this new technology. Democratic politicians like “progress” and crave the financial support of the tech titans, but grass roots Democrats are not fond of corporate billionaires and environmental damage.
So what say you?
Would you like one of these data centers close to where you live? Do you want your local government to be supportive of that?
Would a candidate’s position on data centers influence your vote?
Would it be in either party’s interest to come out with a clear position on the issue? What if both parties support them, but voters from both parties (plus independents) discover a commonality in opposing them?
Is technological progress inevitable? Or can it be stopped sometimes? Or should it be stopped sometimes?
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