Key facts
- U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright encouraged data center supporters to push back against critics.
- Wright stated that concerns about data centers' water and power usage, and AI's impact on jobs, are 'overblown'.
- He compared the opposition to data centers to the resistance faced by fracking.
- A recent poll shows only one in three Americans approve of the rapid construction of data centers.
- Investor Kevin O'Leary agreed to scale back a large data center project in Utah.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright urged supporters of data centers to actively counter criticism regarding the facilities' environmental impact and potential effects on employment. Speaking at an Amazon Web Services conference, Wright acknowledged concerns about water and power consumption, as well as the societal implications of artificial intelligence, but characterized these issues as "overblown."
Wright, a former CEO of oilfield service company Liberty Energy, drew parallels between the current opposition to data centers and the resistance he encountered regarding hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for oil and gas. "They cannot win and they will not win," he stated, encouraging proponents to share facts and their pride in their work with skeptical individuals.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that only one in three Americans approve of the rapid pace of data center construction, highlighting the issue's prominence in public discourse ahead of the November midterm elections.
Investor Kevin O'Leary recently revised his stance on a planned 40,000-acre data center in Utah. He retracted earlier claims that opponents were funded by China or the Chinese Communist Party, admitting he had no evidence. O'Leary has since agreed to reduce the project's scale to protect local wildlife.