Biden uses last-minute artificial intelligence executive order to force more green energy onto grid — watts?

From the Daily Caller

Thomas English
Contributor

U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Tuesday, six days before leaving office, aimed at strengthening the United States' artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and “accelerating the clean energy transition.”

The executive order directs the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Departments of Energy (DOE) to lease federal property to the private sector to build “gigawatt-scale” artificial intelligence data centers, while requiring the Department of the Interior to “determine lands under its management” that are suitable for clean energy . The move is the latest in a series of last-minute developments on the president's green energy agenda, including a newly announced crackdown on future offshore oil and gas drilling.

“This executive order will direct the Departments of Defense and Energy to lease federal sites where the private sector can build cutting-edge artificial intelligence infrastructure quickly and at scale,” an official White House statement said. “These efforts are designed to be responsible and responsive to local communities. Accelerate the clean energy transition in a respectful way that imposes no new costs on American families.”

I know many people are skeptical about the need for clean energy.

Some people don’t believe climate change is real—and they’re wrong. The clean energy transition has happened, and America must win.

This will shape the global economy and the future of our planet.

— President Biden (@POTUS) January 14, 2025

The order defines “clean energy generation resources” as geothermal, nuclear fission and fusion, solar, wind, hydroelectric, hydropower and ocean energy, or any energy source that produces “little or no carbon dioxide emissions.” (Related: Trump reportedly considering executive order to protect Americans’ gas furnaces from bureaucrats)

The energy consumed when training large language models (LLMs) has long been a concern for climate activists, who note that AI and cryptocurrency data centers will account for nearly 2% of global energy consumption by 2022, according to the data. By 2026, that number could double.

The White House also called the development of U.S. artificial intelligence infrastructure a “national security imperative” in a statement, emphasizing the need to prevent adversaries from exploiting “powerful systems.”

“A domestic data center for training and running powerful artificial intelligence models will help the United States promote the safe and reliable development of artificial intelligence, use artificial intelligence to serve national security, and prevent adversaries from accessing powerful systems to harm our military and national security.” the statement said.

The administration added that the United States should not “sacrifice critical environmental standards and our joint efforts to protect clean air and clean water” in order to maintain AI dominance. Biden also announced new restrictions on exports of advanced semiconductors on Monday, aimed at preventing countries like China from training advanced LL.M.

The executive order is another last-minute move that appears to be an effort to thwart President-elect Donald Trump's energy agenda, which is expected to include a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters. Biden on Monday announced a ban on future offshore oil and gas activity on the 625 million-acre Outer Continental Shelf, citing a law that could prevent successive administrations from easily reversing the policy.

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