Environmental Groups Urge Congress to Ban Data Centers – Watts Up With That?

By Steve Goreham

Originally published in MasterResource.

Environmental groups seek to halt data center construction in the United States. They warn that data centers consume enormous quantities of electricity and water and contribute to climate change. But environmentalists now oppose the artificial intelligence revolution (AI), the irresistible force that is transforming the US economy.

On December 8, more than 230 environmental organizations delivered a letter to Congress requesting a “national data center moratorium.” The letter stated, “The rapid expansion of data centers across the United States, driven by the generative artificial intelligence and crypto boom, presents one of the biggest environmental and social threats of pollution, straining water resources, and rising electricity prices across the country.”

Signatories of the letter include Friends of the Earth US, Greenpeace USA, and the US Climate Action Network, along with democrat party organizations including Progressive Democrats of America, New York Progressive Action Network, and the Seattle Democratic Socialists of America.

The number of data centers in the US is exploding. According to USA Data Centers, about 2,700 centers existed at the start of 2024, but this number has risen to more than 4,000, a 50% increase in less than two years. Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, and other large tech firms called “hyperscalers” are spending a combined total of over $380 billion this year to build data centers to run AI. This capital investment is larger than the Gross Domestic Product of more than 138 nations.

In addition to new centers, the servers of existing data centers are being upgraded to run AI. These new servers use six to ten times as much power as the old servers to solve problems, make predictions, and create text, images, music, and videos.

Environmental groups are correct in their assertion that AI uses vast amounts of electricity. Data centers were using about four percent of US power at the start of 2024 but this is projected to rise to 12% of US power by 2030.

But environmentalists are wrong in their assertion that data centers are the cause of rising electricity prices. From 2019 to 2024, power prices in the two states with the most data centers, Virginia (over 600) and Texas (over 400), rose far less than the rate of inflation. Virginia power prices were up only 13.2% and Texas prices up only 14.2%, well below the cumulative rate of inflation of 22.7% over the five-year period. Instead, Department of Energy data show that electricity prices are rising fastest in states pursuing green energy policies, including California, Massachusetts, and New York.

Environmental groups decry data center power consumption but ignore the power use of green energy programs. Electric cars, home electric appliances, and green hydrogen also use huge amounts of electricity compared to traditional fuels, but these initiatives are promoted by environmental groups in the name of fighting human-caused climate change.

President Trump called for the US to “do whatever it takes to lead the world in artificial intelligence.” With democrat environmental groups now opposing data centers, the democrat party may be turning to oppose AI and Trump’s effort to win the AI race.

Data centers consume vast amounts of electricity, but AI companies now provide facilities to minimize the impact on local communities. Builders are constructing new on-site power plants next to the data center, to avoid taxing the local power grid. For example, Tesla installed 35 gas turbines to power its Colossus xAI supercomputer facility near Memphis, Tennessee. Google is working with NextEra Energy to restart the Duane Arnold nuclear plant to support a new data center in Iowa.

Data centers also can use large amounts of water to cool AI servers, particularly if evaporative cooling is used. But new centers increasingly use closed-loop cooling systems to reduce water consumption. In addition, some projects are building new water facilities near data centers. Google financed the building of a water treatment plant for the Douglas County Water and Sewer Authority to support a new data center near Atlanta, Georgia.

But the biggest fear of environmental groups is that the AI tidal wave will wash away the net zero energy transition. Intermittent wind and solar systems can’t supply the 24-hour, seven-day-per-week power needs of data centers. Wind and solar systems are dilute and spread over wide areas, requiring hundreds of miles of transmission lines and many years to be brought online.

Gas power plants are concentrated power and can be built in less than two years onsite to minimize transmission needs. More than 200 new gas-fired power plants are in planning or under construction across the US, with more than 100 plants in Texas alone. It is estimated that 60% of the electricity needed for new data centers will come from natural gas, with nuclear plants providing a sizable portion of the rest.

Driven by the AI revolution, states are stepping back from green energy policies. Last month, Pennsylvania withdrew from RGGI, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which requires businesses to pay a tax on carbon dioxide emissions. After two decades of pipeline blockage, New York approved a new gas pipeline to New York City. New York also postponed their statewide ban on gas appliances in new construction that was scheduled to begin in January.

The battle is joined. Environmental and democrat groups are lining up to oppose the artificial intelligence revolution, a technological advancement on the scale of the internet. The end result will be a victory for AI and common sense, and the failure of renewable energy and the ideology of Climatism, the fear of human-caused global warming.

Steve Goreham is a speaker on energy, the environment, and public policy and author of the bestselling book Green Breakdown: The Coming Renewable Energy Failure.