Despite overwhelming public opposition, officials in Bessemer voted to recommend changes to city zoning ordinances to allow the massive development. Its operation could strain the state’s water and power supplies and leave an already imperiled fish species at risk of extinction.
I can almost guarantee that this data center will be powering more ai slop rather than provide anything even remotely useful.
90x power draw of the city is still an immense increase to the system regardless of the fact the city is small. That means higher bills for the people who were already living there. Let alone the fact that a lot of that power draw will be made of fossil fuel usage only further speeding up climate change. Let alone the fact that the power will not be produced locally meaning power has to be brought it from further away which means more lost to heat through the wires.
Then we should also consider the insane water draw of data centers. They can easily take the water pressure out for people living close enough to the facility. Forget how wasteful they are with the water and how that will only speed up water wars. Or how that will increase the cost of water to the local community who again was there first.
This is also ignoring the insane light pollution that will come off of the data center as they will happily have really bright lights on 24/7.
Some data centers are necessary, but not ones that power ai slop. We also need a lot of regulation on data centers to prevent them from harming the communities who were there first. To make them be responsible for the pollution they are causing and make them responsible for the water they waste everyday.
100 acres is less than a sixth of a square mile, and Bessemer City doesn’t use a ton of electricity, being as rural as it is.
The endangered species is more concerning, but feels solvable if they use environmentally conscious design practices with regards to the waterway.
Idk, I think that new data centers are something of a “necessary evil” in our modern society, and they have to be built somewhere.
I can almost guarantee that this data center will be powering more ai slop rather than provide anything even remotely useful.
90x power draw of the city is still an immense increase to the system regardless of the fact the city is small. That means higher bills for the people who were already living there. Let alone the fact that a lot of that power draw will be made of fossil fuel usage only further speeding up climate change. Let alone the fact that the power will not be produced locally meaning power has to be brought it from further away which means more lost to heat through the wires.
Then we should also consider the insane water draw of data centers. They can easily take the water pressure out for people living close enough to the facility. Forget how wasteful they are with the water and how that will only speed up water wars. Or how that will increase the cost of water to the local community who again was there first.
This is also ignoring the insane light pollution that will come off of the data center as they will happily have really bright lights on 24/7.
Some data centers are necessary, but not ones that power ai slop. We also need a lot of regulation on data centers to prevent them from harming the communities who were there first. To make them be responsible for the pollution they are causing and make them responsible for the water they waste everyday.
Sure, new data centers are a necessary evil that have to be built somewhere, but ……
What’s in it for the town?
Sure they should be somewhere but how about somewhere with the infrastructure to support it? Somewhere already developed?