August 18, 2024, 3:00 AM PST
To the Editor: As the editorial states, the dramatic increase in electricity demand due to California's growing data centers could hinder our clean energy transition.
Data centers power everything from cloud computing to images and text created by artificial intelligence (AI). Regardless of the debate over how important some AI capabilities are, it's clear that we must avoid setting back the clean energy transition by powering these facilities with dirty fossil fuels that pollute our air and destabilize our climate.
State lawmakers should oppose Senate Bill 1298, which would allow outdated fossil fuel power plants to be used as backup generators for data centers. We have better, more forward-thinking alternatives, including energy efficiency measures, more rooftop solar panels, and batteries to store excess power for 24/7 use.
It doesn’t make sense to power a future AI revolution with outdated, polluting energy sources.
Stephen King, Los Angeles
The author is a clean energy advocate at Environment California.
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To the Editor: I once thought that we needed to pay companies like ExxonMobil, Shell and BP to save the planet, but that was incredibly naive.
Their greed knows no bounds: there is simply not enough market share to quench the thirst of profitable monopolies like the oil industry.
AI is just the latest market innovation strengthening their position in the energy industry, the most profitable and most powerful sector on the planet: a monopoly against a monopoly.
Is the market already pricing in an inevitable crash, or is a repeat of 2008 happening, and why is Warren Buffett sitting on so much cash right now?
You could contact ChatGPT, but that would feel like eating your own tail.
Pam Brennan, Newport Beach
