Scientist: Data centers crucial to everyday life
Amidst widespread protests against data center construction in Texas and across 42 states, a former White House scientist argues that data centers are essential for daily life. Protesters raise concerns about electricity and water demands, noise, and land use, while the scientist asserts that many of these concerns are overblown and data centers offer tax benefits.
Mark Mills, executive director of the National Center for Energy Analytics and a former White House scientist, has emphasized the critical role of data centers in everyday American life, from cellular communications to medical records and online services. This comes amidst a 'week of action' in Texas, which saw 18 protests, part of 142 nationwide events organized by Humans First on July 18th to oppose AI data center construction.
Humans First, an advocacy group labeling itself a 'conservative social movement,' cites concerns over increased electricity and water demands, noise, land use, and national security. Mills, who worked in microprocessors and fiber optics, compared current data center protests to those against airport expansion in the 1960s, attributing the current surge in demand for larger data centers to artificial intelligence. He also noted that opposition to data centers appears to be bipartisan, with Democrats often focusing on environmental impacts and Republicans on 'Big Tech' issues.
Mills refuted concerns about water usage as 'fundamentally a bogus issue,' stating golf courses and ethanol production consume significantly more water, and that data centers employ water-saving technologies like closed-loop cooling. While acknowledging that electricity rates are a real issue, he argued they are primarily influenced by policies unrelated to data centers. He concluded by highlighting the substantial tax revenues data centers generate, which can reduce local residents' taxes.