August 13, 2026 • 23 mins
As America races to expand AI infrastructure, a new political fight is emerging around data centers, energy, water use, and local control. Steve Yates examines Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s push for greater scrutiny of large-scale data center projects and asks whether today’s resistance to AI infrastructure echoes past debates over the Green New Deal. The bigger question: how can the United States balance community concerns with the need to stay competitive against China in the technologies that will shape the future? Listen for a practical framework to evaluate data center projects with facts, transparency, and common sense rather than slogans. Follow Nation States with Yates for clear, common-sense insights where Steve Yates serves as your personal national security advisor, breaking down world events in ways that matter to Main Street, not just Washington. Connect with the show at NationStatesYates@Gmail.com and follow on X @NSWithYates.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to Nation States. With you, it's the world comes
at you fast, whether you're in the White House or
in your house, we hear a Nation States aim to
serve as your personal national security advisor, helping make sense
of it all so that you can engage in meaningful
and confident conversations with your friends and family, your community,
and especially with those you elect to represent you on
(00:24):
the meaningful topics that affect our nation state. Well, today
we've got a simple, provocative question. First, you probably have
heard of data centers and you probably remember the Green
New Deal. A provocative question we have today for our
conversation is, is the data center debate that we're going
through now just like the Green New Deal debate we've
(00:45):
had in recent past. Punchy little topic, but the hard
question is there. A few years ago, the Green New
Deal crowd on the left wanted government to put roadblocks
in front of the energy industry that actually powers this country. Today,
growing faction on the right is doing something that looks
a lot like the same playbook, only this time the
(01:06):
target is data centers and the AI infrastructure that will
decide whether America or China leads the next technological era.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott just ordered a full audit of
every data center trying to connect to the Texas grid.
No more approvals until they prove they pay their own
way on power, protect water, respect neighborhoods, and disclose ownership
(01:28):
and incentives. The stated goal is protecting Texans fair enough,
I respect that, but broader pattern kind of comes to
the fore that should make serious conservatives stop and think. So,
you've got this organized resistance out there, you have exaggerated claims,
factional fighting inside the parties, and a strategic winner that
(01:52):
is not the United States. That's what we're unpacking today.
So I want you to feel equipped, not inflamed or
riled up to go have a fight, but feel equipped
so that you can have a rational but meaningful talk
about this with your neighbors. And you elected officials to
get beyond the slogans. So with that, we're going to
(02:13):
take a brief break, but please continue to like, share,
and subscribe. We're deeply grateful for your being along with
us on this meaningful conversation and we really appreciate your
help in growing the audience to improve the program. So
after a few moments, we'll be back with a deep
dive into data centers. Are they the new Green New
(02:34):
Deal debate? Back in a minute. Welcome back to Nation
States with yeats. Well, today we're going to talk about
data centers, Green New Deal, left right, what's the same,
what's different? Hopefully this provocative framing gives you some ways
of thinking about this debate about data centers that are
(02:56):
different than just following the headlines as they come across
to you. But first let's get into some of the
basic facts to set up the conversation. In June, Governor
Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the
Grid there, the authority that runs it, to make sure
(03:17):
that data centers pay for their own electric infrastructure so
that residential and small business customers are not stuck with
the bill. He wanted interconnections that actually lower, not raise,
residential rates. Then in August thirty went further and he
ordered a comprehensive audit of the entire large load interconnection
(03:37):
lineup hundreds of gigawatts, the vast majority of it in
data centers. Until that audit is complete, no new projects
move forward. So what do they have to disclose? Every
tax incentive, grant abatement projected power demand, whether they plan
on site generation so they don't just lean on the
(03:59):
existing grid, water resources, projected use reuse plans, and cooling technology,
with a clear preference for closed loop systems. Closed loop
meaning they operate independently and don't have a net impact
on the rest of US. Concrete steps to reduce noise, light, traffic,
and other impacts on neighboring communities, and full ownership and
(04:22):
controlling interests, so that we've got a lot of disclosure.
Several major companies like Meta, the mothership of Facebook, have
already said that they'll comply. This is not a permanent band,
it's conditional approval based on transparency and cost internalization. Texas
is still open for business, but Texas First is now
(04:44):
the explicit standard fair guard rails. But the question is
whether they stay guardrails or do they turn into permanent roadblocks.
And of course what happens in Texas doesn't stay in Texas.
This is a test to how this gets addressed across
the broader array of options in the United States of America.
So let's look at some of the parallels between the
(05:07):
debate that we're seeing about data centers right now and
what came out of the Green New Deal. Some people
are going to like this, some people aren't going to
like it. But I hope that those who don't like
it sort of have the step back and say, I
don't like it, but I can feel where the echoes
of this could be perceived, and maybe that makes me
uncomfortable enough that I want to rethink what my general
(05:29):
approaches are. Data center is good under what circumstances should
government stand in the way? If so, how much or
how little? These are the kinds of things that we
need a responsive citizenry and a responsive government to have
a back and forth about. So First, we have some
government roadblocks by that stand in the front of public
(05:53):
sector growth. The Green New Deal targeted fossil fuels, pipelines
and reliable generation. Today's resistance to the data centers is
what could be called hyper scale commute. Large huge hyper
scale commute the foundation of AI leadership. In both instances,
(06:14):
it slowed the addition of strategic capacity. Second, you have
organized versus purely organic protest. The Green New Deal, we
saw genuine local concern mixed with coordinated national campaigns on
the climate side. We're now seeing the same mix with
real rural and suburban quality of life worries, plus coordinated
(06:36):
nationwide days of action with groups of what might have
had tea party routes but now rapid growth of local
opposition networks that doesn't seem organic. Texas has hosted the
most protests of any state when it comes to these
data centers. Who to thunk it red Texas Right, Middle America,
(06:59):
a lot of Silicon Valley leaving California's kind of crazy government,
kind of stifling of their industry, and now they're facing
this grassroots real and maybe not so real or organic
opposition movement. Tension is real bottom line. Fourth, And both
(07:21):
of these debates, whether it's great new deal or the
data centers, you end up with exaggerated and emotional framing.
You had the climate catastrophe rhetoric on one side, you
have grid collapse, water drain, billionaire land grab rhetoric in
the other. Both crowd out engineering trade offs and measured data.
(07:43):
That's a loss for rational debate and good policy making. Fifth,
we have and this one should help focus the mind
a core beneficiary of this debate, especially when it ends
up slowing growth of opportunity in America. The core in
officiary looks a lot like China. So every month of
(08:03):
delay in American compute capacity is a month China uses
to close the gap on power generation, data center buildout,
and model training that's allowing them to catch up. And
this is a race. As we've talked in previous episodes
of Nation States, we can't afford to lose. So adversary
information operations have already tried to amplify our domestic divisions
(08:25):
on this issue. That's not new, but it's definitely relevant
to the debate on data centers. The power and commute
are the new oil. Slowing our side helps the other side.
This is not a theory, it's strategic reality. Another part
of this where there's some parallels between the Green New
Deal debate on the left and the data center debate
(08:46):
as it's been so far on the right. It's sort
of the layers of federal, state, and community. This is
not just a Texas story. It plays out at every
level federally. The AI capacity is a national security issue.
Export controls on advanced chips are necessary, but they're insufficient
if domestic power and land use policies undercut the build out.
(09:07):
White House talks about build Baby build, but local and
state friction cannot still nullify that. So ask your members
of Congress how they plan to accelerate permitting grid modernization
and domestic production of transformers and switch gear, the mechanics
that allow for this expansion to take place safely, reasonably
and good for the community and good for the nation.
(09:30):
At the state level, Texas is a laboratory. It's got
an isolated grid, it's got aggressive economic development policies. That's good,
and now heightens scrutiny to create a live experiment where
do we go with the clash of technology and modernization
and global competition, but also real local concerns and considerations.
(09:55):
Other governors are going to be watching how tech Texas navigates.
What works, what doesn't work? Test for every state is
how to demand cost internalization and transparency without creating de
facto veto points that kill projects basically set us up
for failure in the competition with China. But also each
(10:18):
state is going to have to look at this and say,
you know, if Texas or other states put up restrictions,
do these data center opportunities follow market forces and maybe
some demand signals from other states? So what gets crowded
out of California or New York or even Texas. Will
it just go to other states and the balloon is
(10:40):
squeezed in one place, just expands in the other. America
still wins, but the constituents in those other states that
have been left behind, they lose. So those are also
the ways that every state has to watch. In communities,
there's legitimate concerns for sure, noise, visual impairment, water and
drought prone areas, construction traffic, perception that tax abatements are unfair.
(11:04):
Residents have every right to demand some of these things.
The closed loop cooling and developers pay their fair share.
Risk is when local process becomes an absolute barrier instead
of a negotiation over real mitigation. So we have to
make sure that this is common sense and results focused.
Here's what you can say to stay constructive in this conversation.
(11:30):
Ask about actual numbers. What is measured water intensity of
the modern design? You can come up with your own
research for asking the right questions about what motivates you most.
About a concern about a data center, how much new
generation is being co located with the build up. How
(11:51):
will they build their own power independent of your grid,
or will their power be so much that they actually
will make a contribute to your grid. That might be
a consideration you want to have in mind before you
say slow down or stop. What's the next fiscal impact
on giving incentives for these data centers to come in,
(12:12):
who owns the project and what binding community benefit agreements
are there on the table? Demand data not slogans. But
you can be equipped going into these town halls. So
how do we engage without falling into either extreme? How
do we reject both build at any cost and stop
(12:34):
everything kind of mindsets? Well, you can insist on transparency,
cost internalization, community protections while refusing to treat every project
as it's an existential threat. It's life or death of
your community, your state, or our country. That's just a
way of ending conversation and debate. It doesn't really solve anything.
(12:56):
Talk to your county commissioner, city council, state legislators, and
utility regulators with specific questions. If you're not finding them
here at nation States, jump onto your preferred form of
sous search or AI, whether it's Gemini, groc or some
other provider. Take a dive into these things. About the
area that troubles you most is the energy grid, is
(13:19):
it water, is it noise? Is it displaced land. You
might be in an area where you want abundant ranching
or farming land, and you're worried about the impact on
those kind of key industries that are part of the
character of your community. Take a dive into those. But
as we do that, let's just make sure that we
(13:41):
are avoiding generalized opposition or blanket cheerleading that yayyay, this
project can do no wrong, or boo boo, this is
the end of times and this is the enemy of
our community. Let's stay in that pragmatic middle of how
do we shape this to make it a win for
our community and a win for America. You can model
(14:04):
your tone sort of after what we're trying to do
here in this conversation. Just be fact based pro America.
Capacity is a good thing. Be respectful of others who
live next to these facilities. We want to make reasonable
accommodations because development comes at some cost, but overall net
benefit to us when done right. This is how conservatives
(14:26):
can stay the party that builds for the future instead
of the party that finds new reasons to try to
stop it. And that's basically where it comes down if
you think you start listening to some of these debates,
you hear people make wild, exaggerated claims. You remember in
the climate debate, whether it was Al Gore twenty five
years ago saying that basically now in twenty twenty six,
(14:50):
New York City should be underwater, Florida will be mostly underwater,
That there would be these massive disasters that would fundamentally
check change geopolitics. It might be the end of American
greatness and to be clashes of civilization being driven by
the climate change narrative that they were talking about at
(15:11):
the time. Well, now, with experience, we can look back
and say some of that was just crackerjack talk, and
some of it was just frankly made up. It wasn't science.
It was based on some things talked about in science,
but then stretched into an ideological framework. Let's make sure
that we're not doing the same thing on data centers.
I may not understand the physics, engineering, and software programming
(15:36):
that goes into how a data center is built and
operates in twenty twenty six, much less twenty thirty six
where these things need to go. Maybe you can, maybe
that's hard for you too, But we don't need to
be building these data centers. We just need to be
able to ask the right questions and have the right
(15:56):
kinds of transparency and accountability to have reasonable assurance. It's
a dice roll in some ways. We're going to have
to build out this capacity, and if we find areas
where there's problems, then we're going to want to make
sure we've built in ways to adjust course. But reasonable
people can say we want to win this tech competition
(16:18):
with China because we don't want the values that undergird
the Communist Party of China's system to be What is
the foundational layer of inference and execution of the models
that will be running our smart life at home, our
competition in space, our communications capabilities, and how we modernize
(16:43):
and maybe automate the core industries that allow us to
stay productive and take care of the basic needs of
our communities, our nations, and our allies. These are fundamental
to everything that we're doing. So let's try to stay
in that realm of rationality. Let's not fall into the
trap of the environmental extremism. Whether it was al Gore's
(17:06):
Coming Calamity or the Green New Deal that wanted to
put such high barriers and costs that it really just
stood in the way of common sense, prudent, responsible harvesting
of the endowed resources the Creator has given us and
allows us to be a strong and prosperous country, to
(17:27):
provide for our kids, but also provide for everybody else.
That's a blessing. We want to make sure that this
technological competition is a blessing too, and I think we've
got the building blocks of being able to do that.
So hopefully these are some of the basic ways of
thinking about this debate about data centers. My guess is,
because of my bias of basically thinking that common sense
(17:51):
path is toward, we should be building out this capability.
Maybe we shouldn't be building it out at crazy paces
because at some point we might not need all of
these data centers. And if we get to a point
where these data centers are wildly built out and the
technology changes, what happens. Do we have sort of the
ghost towns of the rust belt but high tech style,
(18:14):
or are these capabilities that are built out for one purpose,
a big data center with independent power plants. If the
data center load changes, are these capabilities sort of fungible?
Do they also apply in other areas of development where
this technology can still help us power our communities, employ
(18:34):
our citizens, and continue to grow in development, even if
the core emission of the data centers might change. So
let's make sure that this build out helps us with
our military supply chains, with our civilian supply chains, but
also has some dual use functions so that if this
competition and the fundamentals of this industry are to change,
(18:56):
maybe one day more of this goes to space. Under
the vision of Elon Musk. Let's make sure these land
based assets aren't just very expensive ghost towns if things
were to change. That I think is a very very
important consideration too. But these are things that well informed
citizenry can and should deal with in the appropriate conversation.
(19:17):
So hopefully you agree this is a constructive way to
engage the topic. Hopefully it helps you feel interested, because
I think there's real stakes for our nation state and
where we go with this debate about data centers and
AI broadly, and with your help, we'll continue to grow
the conversation, grow the movement of rational thought being applied
(19:40):
to the things that are necessary for our nation state
to thrive, succeed, and overcome the challenges and competition that's
out there in the world, and we land in a
good place. So with that, I want to thank you
for joining the conversation. Please continue to download, like, share,
subscribe if so inclined, Please give favor reviews on your
(20:01):
preferred podcast platforms. It helps us sustain the program, growth
the audience, and bring you new and innovative content coming
in future weeks with future episodes. As always, feel free
to reach out if you have feedback or topic ideas
for future episodes. You can always reach me at Nation
(20:22):
States Yates at gmail dot com or through the x
handle at NS with Yates. We certainly welcome the interaction there,
and stay tuned for some program developments in the coming weeks,
where we're going to build out some new platforms for
short form videos in between episodes, and some written commentary
(20:43):
on something called Substack coming soon to a theater near you.
But for now, we're going to take a brief break
and come back with some parting thoughts. Please stay with
us back in a minute, Welcome back to Nation States
with Yates. Hopefully we've lived up to our mantra of
wanting to serve as your personal national security advisor, helping
you navigate the wild and wooly world and the big
(21:04):
issues that stand in front of the fate of our
nation state. Today we talked about data centers and the
debate that's been emerging around the country, some of it organic,
some of it not organic, but undeniably regardless of how
you see that, there are consequences for the United States
of America, our communities, our states, our nation state. And
(21:26):
there are beneficiaries of all of this if we do
it right here at home, but also if we slow
it down, there's a beneficiary that is not America. It's
primarily the People's Republic of China. We have to be
mindful of that, and I hope you will feel comfortable
bringing that into meaningful conversations in your circle of family, friends, community,
(21:46):
and elected representatives. So let's bring it home. The Green
New Deal tried to put ideology ahead of reliable energy,
the emerging data center resistance risks, putting local emotion and
political opera tunism ahead of compute capacity. For America, that
we need to stay ahead of the Chinese Communist Party
Governor Abbott's criteria, pay your own way, protect the grid
(22:10):
and water, respect neighborhoods, disclose incentives and ownership. These are
reasonable guard rails if they remain standards rather than indefinite roadblocks.
The test for our side is, don't be the green
new deal, don't be the squad. We got to be
clear about this. We will be the party that builds
the future or the party that discovers new ways to
(22:33):
obstruct it. That's the fork we have in the road.
Communities have legitimate interests, so does the nation and China's
watching and building twenty four seven three sixty five. So
let's get our facts straight. Let's ask better questions of
our elected officials. Let's keep the conversation focused on American
strength rather than American self sabotage. That's the Nation State's approach.
(22:55):
We hope you like it. We hope it helps you.
Please feel free to be in touch with feedback on
this episode and ideas for future episodes at Nations States
Yates at gmail dot com or on x at NS
with Yates. And until next time, stay strong, America. Come
on back for your next dose of Nation States with
(23:17):
Yates soon
Welcome to Nation States. With you, it's the world comes
at you fast, whether you're in the White House or
in your house, we hear a Nation States aim to
serve as your personal national security advisor, helping make sense
of it all so that you can engage in meaningful
and confident conversations with your friends and family, your community,
and especially with those you elect to represent you on
(00:24):
the meaningful topics that affect our nation state. Well, today
we've got a simple, provocative question. First, you probably have
heard of data centers and you probably remember the Green
New Deal. A provocative question we have today for our
conversation is, is the data center debate that we're going
through now just like the Green New Deal debate we've
(00:45):
had in recent past. Punchy little topic, but the hard
question is there. A few years ago, the Green New
Deal crowd on the left wanted government to put roadblocks
in front of the energy industry that actually powers this country. Today,
growing faction on the right is doing something that looks
a lot like the same playbook, only this time the
(01:06):
target is data centers and the AI infrastructure that will
decide whether America or China leads the next technological era.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott just ordered a full audit of
every data center trying to connect to the Texas grid.
No more approvals until they prove they pay their own
way on power, protect water, respect neighborhoods, and disclose ownership
(01:28):
and incentives. The stated goal is protecting Texans fair enough,
I respect that, but broader pattern kind of comes to
the fore that should make serious conservatives stop and think. So,
you've got this organized resistance out there, you have exaggerated claims,
factional fighting inside the parties, and a strategic winner that
(01:52):
is not the United States. That's what we're unpacking today.
So I want you to feel equipped, not inflamed or
riled up to go have a fight, but feel equipped
so that you can have a rational but meaningful talk
about this with your neighbors. And you elected officials to
get beyond the slogans. So with that, we're going to
(02:13):
take a brief break, but please continue to like, share,
and subscribe. We're deeply grateful for your being along with
us on this meaningful conversation and we really appreciate your
help in growing the audience to improve the program. So
after a few moments, we'll be back with a deep
dive into data centers. Are they the new Green New
(02:34):
Deal debate? Back in a minute. Welcome back to Nation
States with yeats. Well, today we're going to talk about
data centers, Green New Deal, left right, what's the same,
what's different? Hopefully this provocative framing gives you some ways
of thinking about this debate about data centers that are
(02:56):
different than just following the headlines as they come across
to you. But first let's get into some of the
basic facts to set up the conversation. In June, Governor
Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the
Grid there, the authority that runs it, to make sure
(03:17):
that data centers pay for their own electric infrastructure so
that residential and small business customers are not stuck with
the bill. He wanted interconnections that actually lower, not raise,
residential rates. Then in August thirty went further and he
ordered a comprehensive audit of the entire large load interconnection
(03:37):
lineup hundreds of gigawatts, the vast majority of it in
data centers. Until that audit is complete, no new projects
move forward. So what do they have to disclose? Every
tax incentive, grant abatement projected power demand, whether they plan
on site generation so they don't just lean on the
(03:59):
existing grid, water resources, projected use reuse plans, and cooling technology,
with a clear preference for closed loop systems. Closed loop
meaning they operate independently and don't have a net impact
on the rest of US. Concrete steps to reduce noise, light, traffic,
and other impacts on neighboring communities, and full ownership and
(04:22):
controlling interests, so that we've got a lot of disclosure.
Several major companies like Meta, the mothership of Facebook, have
already said that they'll comply. This is not a permanent band,
it's conditional approval based on transparency and cost internalization. Texas
is still open for business, but Texas First is now
(04:44):
the explicit standard fair guard rails. But the question is
whether they stay guardrails or do they turn into permanent roadblocks.
And of course what happens in Texas doesn't stay in Texas.
This is a test to how this gets addressed across
the broader array of options in the United States of America.
So let's look at some of the parallels between the
(05:07):
debate that we're seeing about data centers right now and
what came out of the Green New Deal. Some people
are going to like this, some people aren't going to
like it. But I hope that those who don't like
it sort of have the step back and say, I
don't like it, but I can feel where the echoes
of this could be perceived, and maybe that makes me
uncomfortable enough that I want to rethink what my general
(05:29):
approaches are. Data center is good under what circumstances should
government stand in the way? If so, how much or
how little? These are the kinds of things that we
need a responsive citizenry and a responsive government to have
a back and forth about. So First, we have some
government roadblocks by that stand in the front of public
(05:53):
sector growth. The Green New Deal targeted fossil fuels, pipelines
and reliable generation. Today's resistance to the data centers is
what could be called hyper scale commute. Large huge hyper
scale commute the foundation of AI leadership. In both instances,
(06:14):
it slowed the addition of strategic capacity. Second, you have
organized versus purely organic protest. The Green New Deal, we
saw genuine local concern mixed with coordinated national campaigns on
the climate side. We're now seeing the same mix with
real rural and suburban quality of life worries, plus coordinated
(06:36):
nationwide days of action with groups of what might have
had tea party routes but now rapid growth of local
opposition networks that doesn't seem organic. Texas has hosted the
most protests of any state when it comes to these
data centers. Who to thunk it red Texas Right, Middle America,
(06:59):
a lot of Silicon Valley leaving California's kind of crazy government,
kind of stifling of their industry, and now they're facing
this grassroots real and maybe not so real or organic
opposition movement. Tension is real bottom line. Fourth, And both
(07:21):
of these debates, whether it's great new deal or the
data centers, you end up with exaggerated and emotional framing.
You had the climate catastrophe rhetoric on one side, you
have grid collapse, water drain, billionaire land grab rhetoric in
the other. Both crowd out engineering trade offs and measured data.
(07:43):
That's a loss for rational debate and good policy making. Fifth,
we have and this one should help focus the mind
a core beneficiary of this debate, especially when it ends
up slowing growth of opportunity in America. The core in
officiary looks a lot like China. So every month of
(08:03):
delay in American compute capacity is a month China uses
to close the gap on power generation, data center buildout,
and model training that's allowing them to catch up. And
this is a race. As we've talked in previous episodes
of Nation States, we can't afford to lose. So adversary
information operations have already tried to amplify our domestic divisions
(08:25):
on this issue. That's not new, but it's definitely relevant
to the debate on data centers. The power and commute
are the new oil. Slowing our side helps the other side.
This is not a theory, it's strategic reality. Another part
of this where there's some parallels between the Green New
Deal debate on the left and the data center debate
(08:46):
as it's been so far on the right. It's sort
of the layers of federal, state, and community. This is
not just a Texas story. It plays out at every
level federally. The AI capacity is a national security issue.
Export controls on advanced chips are necessary, but they're insufficient
if domestic power and land use policies undercut the build out.
(09:07):
White House talks about build Baby build, but local and
state friction cannot still nullify that. So ask your members
of Congress how they plan to accelerate permitting grid modernization
and domestic production of transformers and switch gear, the mechanics
that allow for this expansion to take place safely, reasonably
and good for the community and good for the nation.
(09:30):
At the state level, Texas is a laboratory. It's got
an isolated grid, it's got aggressive economic development policies. That's good,
and now heightens scrutiny to create a live experiment where
do we go with the clash of technology and modernization
and global competition, but also real local concerns and considerations.
(09:55):
Other governors are going to be watching how tech Texas navigates.
What works, what doesn't work? Test for every state is
how to demand cost internalization and transparency without creating de
facto veto points that kill projects basically set us up
for failure in the competition with China. But also each
(10:18):
state is going to have to look at this and say,
you know, if Texas or other states put up restrictions,
do these data center opportunities follow market forces and maybe
some demand signals from other states? So what gets crowded
out of California or New York or even Texas. Will
it just go to other states and the balloon is
(10:40):
squeezed in one place, just expands in the other. America
still wins, but the constituents in those other states that
have been left behind, they lose. So those are also
the ways that every state has to watch. In communities,
there's legitimate concerns for sure, noise, visual impairment, water and
drought prone areas, construction traffic, perception that tax abatements are unfair.
(11:04):
Residents have every right to demand some of these things.
The closed loop cooling and developers pay their fair share.
Risk is when local process becomes an absolute barrier instead
of a negotiation over real mitigation. So we have to
make sure that this is common sense and results focused.
Here's what you can say to stay constructive in this conversation.
(11:30):
Ask about actual numbers. What is measured water intensity of
the modern design? You can come up with your own
research for asking the right questions about what motivates you most.
About a concern about a data center, how much new
generation is being co located with the build up. How
(11:51):
will they build their own power independent of your grid,
or will their power be so much that they actually
will make a contribute to your grid. That might be
a consideration you want to have in mind before you
say slow down or stop. What's the next fiscal impact
on giving incentives for these data centers to come in,
(12:12):
who owns the project and what binding community benefit agreements
are there on the table? Demand data not slogans. But
you can be equipped going into these town halls. So
how do we engage without falling into either extreme? How
do we reject both build at any cost and stop
(12:34):
everything kind of mindsets? Well, you can insist on transparency,
cost internalization, community protections while refusing to treat every project
as it's an existential threat. It's life or death of
your community, your state, or our country. That's just a
way of ending conversation and debate. It doesn't really solve anything.
(12:56):
Talk to your county commissioner, city council, state legislators, and
utility regulators with specific questions. If you're not finding them
here at nation States, jump onto your preferred form of
sous search or AI, whether it's Gemini, groc or some
other provider. Take a dive into these things. About the
area that troubles you most is the energy grid, is
(13:19):
it water, is it noise? Is it displaced land. You
might be in an area where you want abundant ranching
or farming land, and you're worried about the impact on
those kind of key industries that are part of the
character of your community. Take a dive into those. But
as we do that, let's just make sure that we
(13:41):
are avoiding generalized opposition or blanket cheerleading that yayyay, this
project can do no wrong, or boo boo, this is
the end of times and this is the enemy of
our community. Let's stay in that pragmatic middle of how
do we shape this to make it a win for
our community and a win for America. You can model
(14:04):
your tone sort of after what we're trying to do
here in this conversation. Just be fact based pro America.
Capacity is a good thing. Be respectful of others who
live next to these facilities. We want to make reasonable
accommodations because development comes at some cost, but overall net
benefit to us when done right. This is how conservatives
(14:26):
can stay the party that builds for the future instead
of the party that finds new reasons to try to
stop it. And that's basically where it comes down if
you think you start listening to some of these debates,
you hear people make wild, exaggerated claims. You remember in
the climate debate, whether it was Al Gore twenty five
years ago saying that basically now in twenty twenty six,
(14:50):
New York City should be underwater, Florida will be mostly underwater,
That there would be these massive disasters that would fundamentally
check change geopolitics. It might be the end of American
greatness and to be clashes of civilization being driven by
the climate change narrative that they were talking about at
(15:11):
the time. Well, now, with experience, we can look back
and say some of that was just crackerjack talk, and
some of it was just frankly made up. It wasn't science.
It was based on some things talked about in science,
but then stretched into an ideological framework. Let's make sure
that we're not doing the same thing on data centers.
I may not understand the physics, engineering, and software programming
(15:36):
that goes into how a data center is built and
operates in twenty twenty six, much less twenty thirty six
where these things need to go. Maybe you can, maybe
that's hard for you too, But we don't need to
be building these data centers. We just need to be
able to ask the right questions and have the right
(15:56):
kinds of transparency and accountability to have reasonable assurance. It's
a dice roll in some ways. We're going to have
to build out this capacity, and if we find areas
where there's problems, then we're going to want to make
sure we've built in ways to adjust course. But reasonable
people can say we want to win this tech competition
(16:18):
with China because we don't want the values that undergird
the Communist Party of China's system to be What is
the foundational layer of inference and execution of the models
that will be running our smart life at home, our
competition in space, our communications capabilities, and how we modernize
(16:43):
and maybe automate the core industries that allow us to
stay productive and take care of the basic needs of
our communities, our nations, and our allies. These are fundamental
to everything that we're doing. So let's try to stay
in that realm of rationality. Let's not fall into the
trap of the environmental extremism. Whether it was al Gore's
(17:06):
Coming Calamity or the Green New Deal that wanted to
put such high barriers and costs that it really just
stood in the way of common sense, prudent, responsible harvesting
of the endowed resources the Creator has given us and
allows us to be a strong and prosperous country, to
(17:27):
provide for our kids, but also provide for everybody else.
That's a blessing. We want to make sure that this
technological competition is a blessing too, and I think we've
got the building blocks of being able to do that.
So hopefully these are some of the basic ways of
thinking about this debate about data centers. My guess is,
because of my bias of basically thinking that common sense
(17:51):
path is toward, we should be building out this capability.
Maybe we shouldn't be building it out at crazy paces
because at some point we might not need all of
these data centers. And if we get to a point
where these data centers are wildly built out and the
technology changes, what happens. Do we have sort of the
ghost towns of the rust belt but high tech style,
(18:14):
or are these capabilities that are built out for one purpose,
a big data center with independent power plants. If the
data center load changes, are these capabilities sort of fungible?
Do they also apply in other areas of development where
this technology can still help us power our communities, employ
(18:34):
our citizens, and continue to grow in development, even if
the core emission of the data centers might change. So
let's make sure that this build out helps us with
our military supply chains, with our civilian supply chains, but
also has some dual use functions so that if this
competition and the fundamentals of this industry are to change,
(18:56):
maybe one day more of this goes to space. Under
the vision of Elon Musk. Let's make sure these land
based assets aren't just very expensive ghost towns if things
were to change. That I think is a very very
important consideration too. But these are things that well informed
citizenry can and should deal with in the appropriate conversation.
(19:17):
So hopefully you agree this is a constructive way to
engage the topic. Hopefully it helps you feel interested, because
I think there's real stakes for our nation state and
where we go with this debate about data centers and
AI broadly, and with your help, we'll continue to grow
the conversation, grow the movement of rational thought being applied
(19:40):
to the things that are necessary for our nation state
to thrive, succeed, and overcome the challenges and competition that's
out there in the world, and we land in a
good place. So with that, I want to thank you
for joining the conversation. Please continue to download, like, share,
subscribe if so inclined, Please give favor reviews on your
(20:01):
preferred podcast platforms. It helps us sustain the program, growth
the audience, and bring you new and innovative content coming
in future weeks with future episodes. As always, feel free
to reach out if you have feedback or topic ideas
for future episodes. You can always reach me at Nation
(20:22):
States Yates at gmail dot com or through the x
handle at NS with Yates. We certainly welcome the interaction there,
and stay tuned for some program developments in the coming weeks,
where we're going to build out some new platforms for
short form videos in between episodes, and some written commentary
(20:43):
on something called Substack coming soon to a theater near you.
But for now, we're going to take a brief break
and come back with some parting thoughts. Please stay with
us back in a minute, Welcome back to Nation States
with Yates. Hopefully we've lived up to our mantra of
wanting to serve as your personal national security advisor, helping
you navigate the wild and wooly world and the big
(21:04):
issues that stand in front of the fate of our
nation state. Today we talked about data centers and the
debate that's been emerging around the country, some of it organic,
some of it not organic, but undeniably regardless of how
you see that, there are consequences for the United States
of America, our communities, our states, our nation state. And
(21:26):
there are beneficiaries of all of this if we do
it right here at home, but also if we slow
it down, there's a beneficiary that is not America. It's
primarily the People's Republic of China. We have to be
mindful of that, and I hope you will feel comfortable
bringing that into meaningful conversations in your circle of family, friends, community,
(21:46):
and elected representatives. So let's bring it home. The Green
New Deal tried to put ideology ahead of reliable energy,
the emerging data center resistance risks, putting local emotion and
political opera tunism ahead of compute capacity. For America, that
we need to stay ahead of the Chinese Communist Party
Governor Abbott's criteria, pay your own way, protect the grid
(22:10):
and water, respect neighborhoods, disclose incentives and ownership. These are
reasonable guard rails if they remain standards rather than indefinite roadblocks.
The test for our side is, don't be the green
new deal, don't be the squad. We got to be
clear about this. We will be the party that builds
the future or the party that discovers new ways to
(22:33):
obstruct it. That's the fork we have in the road.
Communities have legitimate interests, so does the nation and China's
watching and building twenty four seven three sixty five. So
let's get our facts straight. Let's ask better questions of
our elected officials. Let's keep the conversation focused on American
strength rather than American self sabotage. That's the Nation State's approach.
(22:55):
We hope you like it. We hope it helps you.
Please feel free to be in touch with feedback on
this episode and ideas for future episodes at Nations States
Yates at gmail dot com or on x at NS
with Yates. And until next time, stay strong, America. Come
on back for your next dose of Nation States with
(23:17):
Yates soon
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