Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has expressed apprehensions about the environmental impact of President Donald Trump‘s AI infrastructure plan.
What Happened: Greene, in a post on social media platform X, voiced concerns about the “massive” water usage of data centers on Thursday. She raised these concerns in response to Trump’s AI Action Plan, which was unveiled on Wednesday.
“Rushed AI expansion and data centers being built all over the country from state to state with no plan in regards to environmental and critical water supply impact has massive future implications and problems,” Greene said.
The AI Action Plan aims to exempt “data center-related actions” from environmental review and place data center and energy projects on fast-track under the nation’s permitting system. This could potentially lead to water quality impacts.
My deep concerns are that the EO demands rapid AI expansion with little to no guardrails and breaks.
Greene, who has a background in construction, highlighted the potential impact on the environment and water supply, emphasizing the need for a “careful and wise approach.”
She criticized the plan for rolling back AI regulations, especially at the state level, noting it would restrict federal funding to states with strict AI laws and task the FCC with reviewing whether those laws conflict with its authority.
Greene signed off saying “Competing with China does not mean become like China by threatening state rights, replacing human jobs on mass scale creating mass poverty, and creating potentially devastating effects on our environment and critical water supply.”
Why It Matters: The AI Action Plan’s focus on fast-tracking data center construction and promoting American AI exports has been a topic of contention. President Trump’s signed the executive orders, emphasizing the need for AI dominance and gain an edge over China. However, the environmental impact of these data centers has been a growing concern.
Elon Musk’s xAI has faced backlash from environmental groups over its Memphis data center’s gas-burning turbine permit. The company later unveiled a ‘sustainable’ way to cool its data center, but the controversy highlights the environmental challenges associated with AI infrastructure.
Against this backdrop, companies like Bloom Energy (NYSE:BE) have been lauded for their sustainable power solutions for AI data centers. Shares of Bloom Energy Corp soared on Thursday, hitting a 52-week high following the announcement of a partnership with Oracle Corp. (NASDAQ:ORCL) Under the agreement, Bloom will deploy its proprietary fuel cell technology to supply onsite power for select Oracle Cloud Infrastructure data centers across the U.S.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
