My state almost got a bill passed that would have made data centers pay for the new generating capacity. The House passed it, but the Senate strangled it. Thanks lobbyists!
replyThe lobbyists are just doing their jobs well. It's the Senate that isn't. Blame the people who you pay taxes to purely to be impartial.
replyThere's no reason not to blame lobbyists as well. A lobbyist saying "it's just business," doesn't excuse them for being assholes.
replyA comparison made by some Solaris guy comparing a Sun magnate to a lawnmower springs to mind.
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replyConsumers should consider cancelling their AI subscriptions if they don't like datacenters.
replyMost people don't have AI subscriptions. A lot of the most fervent detractor hate AI to the core and refuse to use it as much as possible.
replyPerhaps we should charge AI subscription "tax" to pay for more renewable energy.
Is there any evidence that individualization of responsibility works better than government policy?
replyPersonally I see no contradiction in using a product despite wanting policies that prevent it: it just implies that you understand the tragedy of the commons.
Most consumers don't have any AI subscriptions. Lots of people's primary experience of AI is it being forced on them through integration into existing products and services, more "greed and hubris".
replyMost consumers are willingly using AI. But they're using the free versions.
replyChatGPT is the #1 most popular app on the app store, with nearly a billion weekly active users.
i, an avid AI user, have never paid a subscription, as a point of data!
replyNot sure if this is sarcastic, but there are effectively no consumers (as opposed to corporations) with AI subscriptions; the number of paid ChatGPT users is a rounding error. In the long run we should not expect the number of paid consumers for LLMs to be significantly greater than the number of paid consumers for search engines.
replyCuriously, also taking place in Virginia, I just a local newspaper was bought out and fired their few journalists after they did an investigative piece on a google datacenters being built in the community.
replyFebruary: https://www.roanokerambler.com/water-authority-releases-goog...
April: https://cardinalnews.org/2026/04/14/former-roanoke-rambler-o...
This tells me they know what they're doing is unpopular and are willing to squash any opposition.