Letter to the editor: AI killing resources
As of Sept. 18, parts of Southwestern Pennsylvania are in extreme drought. Climate change will only make this more common. While people are warned to conserve water, our elected officials like Gov. Josh Shapiro are looking to pave the way for water-greedy data centers.
Food & Water Watch research points out that data centers require massive amounts of specifically drinking water to be cooled, and experts have warned that even non-water-stressed areas will experience shortages in the coming years. And adding fuel to the fire, Big Oil and Gas are lining up to power the AI boom.
This isn’t speculation; we know this because the industry has told us. Fracking giant EQT has already put Pittsburgh billboards up that state, “The future of AI is here, and it’s powered by EQT.” More fossil fuels and less water inevitably will prove disastrous as our climate heats up and our drinking water disappears. We cannot hand over our most precious resource to industries exploiting it for gain, all at our expense.
Fossil-fueled AI is the wrong direction for Pennsylvania, as it looks to breathe new life into old problems.
Robin Lesko
Mt. Lebanon
The writer is senior Western Pennsylvania organizer for Food & Water Watch.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.