As President Donald Trump pushes forward with a new artificial intelligence road map, Congress’ climate hawks are sounding the alarm about the emerging technology’s environmental impacts.
The Trump administration’s AI plan, released last week, set a governmentwide priority to speed up the construction of AI infrastructure regardless of environmental impacts. The action plan called on executive agencies to “reject radical climate dogma” in their push to expand the technology.
The administration said it would prioritize “reliable dispatchable power sources” like coal and gas, rather than wind and solar power, when looking to meet the massive energy needs of AI. The White House also called to ease permitting processes for data centers, including environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act.
The policy changes have rankled some long-time congressional climate leaders — and could herald an increased focus on tech from those on Capitol Hill concerned about carbon emissions.
