Big Tech's AI power play sparks concern among green groups

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Oct 22, 2024 View in browser
 
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By Mohar Chatterjee and Jordan Wolman

With help from Samantha Latson.

THE BIG IDEA

FILE - This May 22, 2017 file photo, shows cooling towers at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pa.

AI is powering up shuttered nuclear power plants. | Matt Rourke, File/AP Photo

POWER PLAY — White House efforts to help the tech industry obtain the massive amounts of energy needed to power artificial intelligence research and data centers are raising concern among green groups that these new initiatives might undermine the Biden administration’s climate agenda.

Environmental activists have focused on a high-profile meeting last month between administration officials and executives from some of the biggest technology, utility and energy companies. That meeting led to creation of an interagency task force to advance data center development, but it also raised questions about who wasn’t there — and why.

A coalition of 35 public interest groups responded by writing a letter to President Joe Biden and other top officials earlier this month, demanding that they hear from public advocates as well as massive corporations.

“The way that [the Biden administration is] trampling environmental and public voices on this is pretty surprising, because they have gone out of their way to put what guardrails they can around AI,” said Emily Peterson-Cassin of Demand Progress, the group that spearheaded the letter. “It reminds me of the tech solutionism from back in the Obama-era.”

Greg LeRoy, executive director at the progressive advocacy Good Jobs First, said he signed the letter because he doubted those at the meeting discussed what he saw as a risk of “undoing the green tech revolution envisioned by the Inflation Reduction Act — because AI is causing such a surge in data center energy consumption.”

White House spokesperson Robyn Patterson said in response to questions about the letter that the administration has held “dozens of meetings with labor leaders, public interest groups, academics, and industry leaders” and that the data center task force will meet with “a wide range of stakeholders as we develop the safeguards and infrastructure to meet clean energy needs and ensure technological innovation is working for the American people.”

Thomas Popik , who leads the nonprofit Foundation for Resilient Societies, said tech companies and environmental groups don’t have to be locked in a zero-sum game.

“Technology companies can play a very positive role if they have the financial resources to jumpstart new technologies that result in an affordable, reliable and clean electric grid, but to the extent that they just capture existing resources and divert them from the public interest, that's not going to move us forward as a society,” he said.

Amazon, Google and Microsoft are going all-in on nuclear energy as they hunt for carbon-free power, sparking revival of a sector that had fallen out of favor.

“Clearly we have a lack of power capacity to support the AI expansion in parts of the U.S., especially in those like Virginia, Arizona and California,” said Shaolei Ren , an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside. “So I think the Biden administration is trying to streamline the process to expand the power grid infrastructure, because typically this is a very lengthy process and the power grid operators are not prepared for this dramatic growth of AI computing.”

Activists have also raised concerns that the increased demand for power driven by the big tech firms could potentially drive up electricity prices for consumers. Peterson-Cassin noted that in calling for more guidance from regulators on “how to protect ratepayers from subsidizing some of the world's largest corporations and how to make sure we still meet our climate goals.”

A big question facing the Biden climate agenda is whether the AI boom will kickstart a fossil fuel resurgence: The Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board, informed by discussion with utilities, academics and tech giants, concluded in a report released in July that DOE should address “the economics and carbon footprint of new natural gas capacity additions” and “delayed retirements of coal” facilities.

Exelon President and CEO Calvin Butler, who attended the White House meeting, said that “there are unique challenges associated with the growing electricity demand for AI, which cannot be overstated” and that the U.S. must be “proactive” in building out transmission so that both data centers and clean energy can easily connect to the grid.

The AI boom could also “delay the timelines” for big tech companies to meet their climate goals, said David Porter, vice president of electrification and sustainable energy strategy at the Electric Power Research Institute, whose CEO and president attended the White House meeting. But “AI is the next frontier, and this is going to be a high-growth business opportunity for them, so it may take time to catch up, but they will get there,” he said.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who attended the White House meeting, said the tech sector, power companies and the administration all understand the environmental concerns and argued that AI can provide energy benefits.

“The administration was very clear that they would like American companies to have an opportunity to build data centers here in America,” Huang said at a Bipartisan Policy Center event last month. “Building the AI infrastructure of our country is a vital national interest, and although it consumes energy to train the models, the models that are created will do the work much more energy efficiently. When you think about AI and the productivity gains that we'll get from it, it is going to be incredible.”

AROUND THE WORLD

MONEY PROBLEMS — Countries are set to collide at this year's U.N. climate summit around who should finance the global energy transition, how much should they pay and how fast can the money get out the door.

Sara Schonhardt of POLITICO's E&E News breaks down the climate finance conundrum for countries when they meet next month in Baku, Azerbaijan.

A lot of money is needed to help developing countries transition away from coal, oil and gas, the main drivers of rising global temperatures. The green transition will cost $2.4 trillion a year by 2030 for developing countries, excluding China, with about $1 trillion of that from international assistance, according to one estimate. A draft of the COP negotiating text for the new global finance target ranges from more than $100 billion to $2 trillion a year.

Tensions are high because countries equate their funding offers to the level of harm they've done to the planet, with rich nations like the U.S. having released the most pollution historically.

“We have a need for speed and without [a] much larger scale all economies will fail,” said Simon Stiell, executive secretary of U.N. Climate Change.

Movers and Shakers

BANK SHOT — Sarah Kapnick has rejoined J.P. Morgan Chase as global head of climate advisory after serving as the top scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Corbin Hiar reports for POLITICO's E&E News.

Kapnick left NOAA last month after two years in a high-profile role that's been a stepping stone for previous NOAA leaders, including current Administrator Richard Spinrad. The banking giant said in a statement that she will advise clients on climate, energy, biodiversity and sustainability.

“Energy transition is a significant global commercial opportunity with the potential to generate economy-wide growth," said Rama Variankaval, the bank's global head of corporate advisory. "Dr Kapnick’s science-based insights and technical expertise will help our clients see around corners and advance their decarbonization strategies.”

Kapnick previously worked as a senior climate scientist and sustainability strategist at JPMorgan. Earlier in her career, she spent six years as a research scientist at NOAA and two as investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs, according to her LinkedIn profile.

At the POLITICO Energy Summit in June, she discussed how her career trajectory had shaped her views and how the public and private sectors can collaborate to advance climate solutions.

"We need the science to be able to understand how we're quantifying impact and the funding and investments that are taking place," Kapnick said during a panel discussion. "If you have that information, you can invest wisely for the adaptation and resilience that needs to take place."

YOU TELL US

 GAME ON — Welcome to the Long Game, where we tell you about the latest on efforts to shape our future. Join us every Tuesday as we keep you in the loop on the world of sustainability.

Team Sustainability is editor Greg Mott and reporter Jordan Wolman. Reach us at gmott@politico.com and jwolman@politico.com.

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WHAT WE'RE CLICKING

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