Trump’s cozy deal with Big Tech promotes empty promises to tackle energy affordability
Concerns about energy costs need to include communities in the conversation, not a one size fits all push for more polluting power.
WASHINGTON – Today, the White House’s announcement with tech company leaders signaled they want to build more power plants alongside data centers. But this so-called deal is an attempt to make it sound like they’re addressing public concerns about rising energy prices without a meaningful solution.
Allowing tech companies to power their data centers by building their own, expensive fossil fuel plants will not bring down regular people’s electric bills. Big Tech companies are some of the richest corporations in the world. They should be leading the way to our clean energy future, not doubling down on dirty fossil fuels.
Today’s announcement threatens to give tech companies who are claiming to build the technology of the future permission to power it with the dirty, expensive energy of the past—and local communities will pay the price. Data centers can and should be powered by clean energy, built responsibly, and developed with transparency and community input. Meanwhile, this administration is rolling back the programs that empower communities to access real clean energy solutions.
We’ve seen tech companies like xAI drop dozens of unregulated methane gas turbines into communities in South Memphis and Mississippi without any notice, bringing more air pollution to communities that are already overburdened with industrial pollution and have higher rates of respiratory illnesses. The costs of that additional air pollution can add up to tens of millions of dollars per year, per plant—a cost that communities will be forced to bear.
“We’ve challenged Elon Musk’s illegal use of polluting gas generators to power AI data centers in Memphis, and now this administration is giving tech companies a green light to copy and paste that pop-up dirty power plant model across the country. Trump’s White House and tech billionaires have apparently decided that powering data centers is worth all the health risks to communities, including more missed days of school and work, and more emergency room visits and even deaths. But they should be inviting communities to the table to find solutions that benefit everyone,” SELC Senior Attorney Amanda Garcia said.
“Communities across the country believe that the communities most impacted by data centers must lead conversations about their implementation. Yet the Trump Administration refuses to create community-based solutions, instead relying on executive orders and other tactics to strong-arm AI data centers into communities. Naturally, frontline communities have pushed back against this top-down approach. Some tech companies and their billionaire owners have even disregarded environmental and climate justice concerns when it comes to data center rollouts. Combined with a president who wants to deepen our reliance on fossil fuels, this is surely a recipe for disastrous climate outcomes. However, as the NAACP has done since the AI boom began, we will remain committed to Stop Dirty Data,” NAACP Director of Environment and Climate Justice Abre’ Conner said.
About NAACP
The NAACP advocates, agitates, and litigates for the civil rights due to Black America. Our legacy is built on the foundation of grassroots activism by the biggest civil rights pioneers of the 20th century and is sustained by 21st-century activists. From classrooms and courtrooms to city halls and Congress, our network of members across the country works to secure the social and political power that will end race-based discrimination. That work is rooted in racial equity, civic engagement, and supportive policies and institutions for all marginalized people. We are committed to a world without racism where Black people enjoy equitable opportunities in thriving communities.
NOTE: The Legal Defense Fund – also referred to as the NAACP-LDF – was founded in 1940 as a part of the NAACP, but now operates as a completely separate entity.
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