Will this be a growing Talking Point from California politicians to cover up the incompetence of Californian politicians and their policies?
Politicians Blame Los Angeles Fires on Explosion of AI Data Centers
The city of Los Angeles is still battling three fierce wildfires. As of Monday morning, at least 24 people have lost their lives and more than 120,000 structures have been either damaged or destroyed in the area.
It’s a devastating situation — and the required water to keep the flames at bay is as difficult as ever to come by. The West Coast has been battling severe droughts, with Southern California getting extremely little rain last year.
While the fires raged, hydrants ran dry last week, leaving some firefighters empty-handed in the city’s greatest moment of need.
Yeah, and the Santa Ynez reservoir was empty, a main resource for fighting fires. The government was eliminating dams. Refer back to this article.
Meanwhile, as Politico reports, politicians have started pointing fingers at the burgeoning AI industry, which has garnered a reputation for sucking up staggering amounts of water to cool down the quickly-growing number of data centers powering it.
As such, three California lawmakers introduced bills last week aimed at encouraging AI data processing centers to work toward sustainable water use standards, and holding them accountable to new transparency rules.
“This is not a new issue, and it’s not one that’s been created because of the fire,” California senator Steve Padilla, who presented one of the bills, told Politico. “It’s one that is exacerbated by it, and I am concerned.”
Convenient. And the road to putting them completely under the control of the California government. Except, they will leave. And new ones will build in other states.
How big of a role the AI industry has played in the ongoing fires in LA specifically remains unclear. Inadequate infrastructure and major budget constraints were to blame as well (and not diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, as billionaire Elon Musk suggested last week).
It played no part. They were not involved in refusing to clear the brush, planting too many trees, not monitoring the electrical infrastructure, not creating fire breaks, etc.
Oh, and
JUST IN: The L.A. District Attorney announces three arson charges for Jose Carranza-Escobar. He could face up to 9 years in prison.
The police in Azusa arrested the homeless man late Friday for starting a brush fire in Pioneer Park. The flames were quickly extinguished.
It is… pic.twitter.com/FKhsXnkFNb
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) January 13, 2025
Our distinguished host quoted:
Obvious question: if this industry requires “staggering amounts of water,” why locate the data centers in hot, dry southern California? Why not the upper peninsula of Michigan, on the shores of Lake Superior? The climate is cooler, thus requiring less cooling in the first place, the water is colder, thus more efficient for cooling the data centers, and the water supply easy to access and very plentiful.
Other locations also suggest themselves.
When the data centers were having such discussions here in Virginia, the three things we were told they needed were: access to a high tech work force, access to massive power supply grid, nearby to where the data is demanded. Water was never a consideration since the data centers are cooled by electricity, not water.
Again, the Republicuns running Texas, Florida, Louisiana and NC ignored preparations for the hurricanes (and the Texas blizzard that Cruz fled).
Why do MAGAts only rail against Dems?? That’s rhetorical.
Wouldn’t that STILL put the burden on politicians? The normies don’t make laws or zoning decisions. Politicians make laws and zoning decisions. It wasn’t Steve from the Valley, Jose from East LA or Pareet from Santa Monica that made these decisions.