"You would think that the government official responsible for safeguarding the US' natural resources would be opposed to abandoning climate change mitigation pledges in favor of firing up fossil fuels to power AI development. This is the Trump administration, however, so you'd be wrong. Speaking at a natural gas industry event in Italy this week, US Interior Secretary and former software exec Doug Burgum said that the true existential threat facing the world is America losing the AI arms race."
"It has not benefited [us], it's just raised the cost of prices for everyone. What's going to save the planet is winning the AI arms race "People say yeah, we might be saving the planet from one degree of climate change in the year 2100. What's going to save the planet is winning the AI arms race," the Interior Secretary continued. "We need power to do that and we need it right now.""
The true existential threat is framed as America losing the AI arms race rather than climate change. Climate change impacts are characterized as solvable while insufficient power for AI is presented as urgent. Waiting for renewables is portrayed as unacceptable after $5 trillion was reportedly spent on wind-solar-battery approaches, which are claimed to have raised prices without benefiting people. Winning the AI arms race is presented as the action that will save the planet, requiring immediate large-scale power. Increased natural gas turbines for datacenters are proposed to ensure AI-related capital remains tied to the United States.
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