Data Center Facts, the Chinese Communist Party Angle, the Reasons for President Trump's Support, and a Survival Strategy for Republican Leaders
Angry crowds jam government meetings demanding a ban on data centers. Nye county placed a moratorium on them. So did Reno. Boulder City banned them altogether.
It would be naive to think data centers will go away. Once the automobile was invented there was no going back to horse and buggy. Like it or not, the data center genii is out of the bottle.
In light of such noisy opposition, why does President Trump strongly support construction of data centers?
Data Centers Will Support the Department of War as Needed
Modern military operations require AI. This is not a changeable fact.
Because data centers are already interconnected, in an instant their work can be re-directed to support defensive and offensive military work. The Defense Production Act of 1950 confers upon the President a broad set of authorities that allow him to nationalize any industry as needed for national defense.
MOU's would insure the work of data centers can be redirected, instantly as needed, to support and protect the United States.
Data Centers Guarantee American Scientific & Technological Dominance
Data centers host webpages, video and photographs, cloud-based programs and applications, and artificial intelligence (AI). To be sure, there are concerns about the use of AI by bad actors to cheat, take jobs, surveil people, etc. All valid points, but, not pertinent to this article. There are good uses of AI–including to help the Republican party–these need data centers to do their work.
AI is identifying criminal activity in Medicare and Medicaid billing. When cheating and theft are revealed and the criminals behind them are busted, often another Democrat donation source dries up.
AI is sifting billions of records to identify illegal aliens, where they work, who they work for, where they live, which welfare programs they access, etc. As illegal aliens are deported the number of Democrat voters shrinks. It also opens jobs for U.S. citizens, and makes available housing formerly occupied by illegals. In turn this drives down housing costs.
AI is already figuring out new uses for existing drugs. It is also designing new drugs to fight cancer, high blood pressure, reduce infant mortality, increase regenerative potentialities, etc.
AI is reviewing scientific papers to weed out fraud and make sure badly done studies don't influence anything.
AI is designing new technology, and finding ways to improve existing techniques.
President Trump's Data Center Plan
1. Make data centers pay their own electrical costs, plus a little more so that costs for ratepayers decrease. The leading data center companies have already signed President Trump's Ratepayer Protection Pledge.
2. Make it easier for data centers to be constructed by reducing regulation and speeding up the permit process.
Who Is Whipping Up Anti-Data Center Sentiment? Do Conservatives Fighting Data Centers Know Who Their Comrades Are in This Struggle?
In China, citizens don't protest data center construction–or anything else. Thus, the Chinese Community Party (CCP) can build data centers anywhere they want, as quickly as they want, however they want. We are in a race with China for AI dominance.
Not surprisingly, China is running a massive influence operation in the United States, to support anti-data center protests and activists. As Newt Gingrich notes, “The anti-data center movement is a gift to Beijing”, adding that if successful, “it will virtually guarantee that the Chinese Communists will dominate the development of artificial intelligence.”
Recently a CCP bot farm was uncovered, with 200 accounts pumping out anti-data center propaganda on X. This is the origin of bad information used by anti-data center activists, who make faulty claims in public meetings and repeat bad statistics in their social media postings.
Conservatives fighting data centers are not alone. Comrades in goose step solidarity include Democrat Socialists of America, Party for Socialism and Liberation, People's Dispatch, Arabella Advisors, the Neville Singham network, and the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the People.
General Facts About Data Centers
There are more than 10,000 data centers world-wide. In the U.S., 64% are in rural areas; however, in Nevada most are near Reno or Las Vegas. In our state 34 data centers are in operation and 39 more are planned or under construction.
In Nevada, data centers employ 4,550 people directly, generating $595 million dollars in payroll. Another 18,570 Nevadans are employed indirectly, generating an additional $1.1 billion in payroll. Data centers in Nevada generate $290 million in tax revenue for state and local governments.
Cooling
There are three generations of data center cooling.
· Generation I (Gen I) uses water tower evaporation. Anti-data center scare tactics rely heavily upon Gen I data. Gen I cooling is becoming obsolete.
· Gen II uses single-phase liquid cooling and less water.
· Gen III is constituted by a number of innovative methods. Some use very little water, and some use none at all. Data from Gen III data centers aren't mentioned by the CCP or activists.
A comparison helps put water usage in perspective. In a day, almond farms in California consume 4.2 billion gallons of water; whereas, data centers in the PRC use 46 million gallons. In the U.S., golf courses use 1.4 billion gallons per day. On a smaller scale, it takes 1,800 gallons of water to make one pair of cotton jeans. The same amount is used when processing 350,000 ChatGPT inquiries.
Lessons & Strategies
Lesson 1: Know your statistics so you can call out misleading Chinese Communist and American activist claims. If you must address data centers, bear in mind most of your audience are either uninformed or misinformed. Consequently you must start with a few key statistics to knock down the misleading claims of activists. Know your talking points:
· Protesters will tell you Google's Gen I data facility in Council Bluffs, Iowa uses 986 million gallons of water per year. What they won't tell you is that this is a Generation I facility.
· Protesters won't tell you about Google's Gen III facility in Pflugerville, Texas. That data center only uses 10,000 gallons of water per year. That is one hundred thousand percent less water usage.
· We could build 140,000 data centers using the Pflugerville model for the same amount of water used by U.S. golf courses in a year.
· The Chinese Communist Party is the source for most of the misleading anti-data center claims. For example, recently 200 Chinese Community Party bots spewing non-stop, anti-data center propaganda were found–just on X.
· If you support a strong America, and the American military, then data centers are a must, because AI is a critical military necessity. AI lives in data centers, so having data centers as a matter of national security. We cannot lose the AI race to China.
Lesson 2: Know the current political sentiment and pick your battles wisely. Sometimes saying less and doing more is a winning strategy.
· Among registered voters, 58% oppose data center construction. For Republicans the number is 53%. For Democrats it is 74%.
· After the Democrat governor of New York came out in support of data centers her favorability rating decreased. Four city council members in a Missouri town were removed for supporting a local data center. Similar retaliation is underway in Nevada.
· Twelve organizations opposing data centers have received $39 million to fund attacks on pro-data center officials, recruit local agitators, and blast bad statistics and propaganda across social media.
Unfortunately, there are many Nevadans (and Americans) falling for the bad statistics and social media deceptions being pumped out by the Chinese Community Party and their anti-data center comrades.
Data centers bring jobs and tax payments. Their use of water is way, way down. They can supply their own electricity, and those that take the Trump pledge will actually help defray electrical costs for consumers.
When agitators cause data centers to be built elsewhere, it is Nevada communities who pay the price.
Elected Republican, please stay the course. You are doing right for America, our military, our technology and science, and you are insuring China will not win the AI race.
To conservatives who have, until now, fought against data centers it is time to stop, educate yourself, and get with Trump. Once again, he is right. Coming over will help Nevada, our military, and the United States of America.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. Digital technology may have been used in the research, writing, or production of this article. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
