I have some exposure to utility regulation and from what I can tell some of the AI companies are "good actors" and willing to shoulder some of the burden. But others are pretty adversarial and want a free lunch.
Not long ago we were crying death to bitcoin, it’s going to destroy the planet.
Come AI, with unlimited power demand. Everybody screaming we need more power.
We need infrastructure, clean energy, even nuclear. We are doing all in the wrong order.
For context, EU added 65 and US 43.
In one year, China _added_ almost the total capacity EU has.
China is the one place where AI actually can use clean energy…
- 70% nuclear
- 26% renewables
- 4% gas/coal
The future is blatantly going to be electric. Between cars, heat pumps, ranges, etc, the quantity of kilowatt hours consumed will rise dramatically per capita because they are replacing burned fossil fuels.
We don't need to subsidize the trillion dollar companies, we can settle for just not cancelling wind and solar projects, and generally updating the grid infrastructure.
A rising tide lifts all boats. If the subsidies go to common infrastructure, that's good for everyone. There's no need to complain about a road being paved because it will benefit FedEx in addition to everyone else.
What? No it isn't.
There are many places the government could use to appropriate funds, not just social services. The military, for example. Other subsidies. Tax credits. Simply increasing the debt.
Now in Iran, the intention was to repeat Venezuela and effect regime change in a hostile country, bolstering America's military status.
Whether these wars have the effect they intend is beside the point; you're asking why they were fought, not whether they resulted in "Mission Accomplished".
Tell it to the guy doing just that, as much as possible.