Climate advocates outraged at Trump administration plans to fast-track AI sector
Rolled out on Wednesday, the 28-page scheme pledges to remove so-called 'bureaucratic red tape' and streamline permitting for data centers, semiconductor manufacturing facilities and fossil fuel infrastructure.
To do so, it will dismantle some environmental and land use regulations, rolling back some Biden-era rules for subsidies for semiconductor plants related to climate requirements, and seeking to establish exclusions for data centers from the National Environmental Policy Act and streamline permits under the Clean Water Act.
'We need to build and maintain vast AI infrastructure and the energy to power it. To do that, we will continue to reject radical climate dogma and bureaucratic red tape, as the Administration has done since Inauguration Day,' the plan says. 'Simply put, we need to 'Build, Baby, Build!''
Trump is also expected to sign three AI-related executive orders on Wednesday during a keynote address at a summit in DC. The announcement will be co-hosted by bipartisan lawmakers with the Hill and Valley Forum and a business and technology podcast hosted by four technology investors and businessmen, including Trump's AI and crypto czar David Sacks.
The AI sector is already depleting land and water resources and taking a massive toll on the climate, with AI-powered large language models like ChatGPT taking up to 10 times more energy to complete than a regular Google search, according to an estimate by the Electric Power Research Institute. Last year, ChatGPT used more than half a million kilowatts of electricity every day, equivalent to the daily power use of 180,000 US households.
The training of a single AI model can lead to an emissions footprint that is almost five times larger than the lifetime carbon footprint of the average American car. Recent research from Food and Water Watch also found that energy demand from AI servers and data centers in the US is expected to increase up to threefold from 2023 to 2028, which could lead the US sector to, by 2028, annually consume enough water to fill more than 1 million Olympic-size swimming pools and enough electricity to power more than 28 million American households.
'At its core, President Trump's AI agenda is nothing more than a thinly veiled invitation for the fossil fuel and corporate water industries to ramp up their exploitation of our environment and natural resources – all at the expense of everyday people,' said Mitch Jones, a managing director Food and Water Watch, an environmental advocacy group.
The new plan recommends that regulators review states' AI laws to see whether they interfere with the agency's authority. It also says federal agencies will 'consider a state's AI regulatory climate when making funding decisions' and 'limit funding if the state's AI regulatory regimes may hinder the effectiveness of that funding or award'.
Republicans earlier this year attempted to do a version of this by placing a moratorium on states' ability to enact regulations on artificial intelligence into Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, but the provision was stripped at the last minute.
'Under this plan, tech giants get sweetheart deals while everyday Americans will see their electricity bills rise to subsidize discounted power for massive AI data centers,' said JB Branch, a big-tech accountability advocate with consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen. 'States are held hostage: either stop protecting their residents from dangerous, untested AI products, or lose federal funding.'
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As a counterweight to the new Trump plan, a broad coalition of more than 90 advocacy groups – including climate and environmental justice non-profits, consumer protection organizations and labor advocates – published an open letter calling for a 'people's AI action plan' that prioritizes 'public well-being, shared prosperity, a sustainable future, and security'.
'We can't let big tech and big oil lobbyists write the rules for AI and our economy at the expense of our freedom and equality, workers and families' well-being,' the coalition wrote.
Research shows that many data centers used for AI are placed near low-income communities of color, which are already often overburdened by pollution.
'People sacrifice their health, their well-being and, too often, their future, so that others can benefit,' said Sharon Lewis, executive director of the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice. 'We're told these data centers are harmless, but even though they might seem like they pose no risk, in reality, these energy-hungry, pollution-intensive facilities are just as damaging to our environment and health.'
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