I get it.
asserted
I → get → it
I really do.
asserted
I → do → ?
They can push up electricity prices for customers like you and me, an important point to which I’ll return.
asserted
I → push → which
They are also being built by big tech companies that have squandered public trust.
asserted
that → build → trust
They promised us that social media would connect the world.
asserted
media → promise → world
Instead, it harmed our kids and denuded our attention spans.
asserted
it → harm → spans
But even with all these concerns, I believe that the decisions in the coming months on data center build-out are among the most consequential in history.
asserted
decisions → believe → history
I also believe that the right policy, give or take a few caveats, is simple: build, baby, build.
asserted
give → believe → caveats
The nation that incubated the Industrial Revolution.
asserted
that → incubate → Revolution
Well, about 25 years ago, the Brits took a decision.
asserted
Brits → take → decision
We decided to prioritize the environment over construction, nice views over vital infrastructure, tangible local concerns over the distant abstraction of the national interest.
asserted
We → decide → interest
You can probably understand the motive if you’ve ever read “The Lord of the Rings.”
asserted
you → understand → Rings
We wanted to be The Shire, that picturesque idyll of trees, lovely pubs, and hobbits.
asserted
We → want → trees
In many ways, The Shire was J.R.R. Tolkien’s paean to the England he adored and wished to protect.
asserted
he → adore → England
But you know the old saying about how the road to hell is paved with good intentions?
asserted
road → know → intentions
The cumulative effect of these policies has turned the UK not into The Shire but into something more like Mirkwood: cold, poor and increasingly lacking in beauty.
asserted
effect → turn → beauty
If you fail to build infrastructure, the local environment may look terrific except for the fact that, over time, you can’t afford to look at it very much.
uncertain
you → fail → it
They call it a cost of living crisis, but it’s really a building crisis.
asserted
it → call → living
When you keep adding new environmental and other requirements to any project, you create a viper’s nest of vested interests that block, stymie and delay.
asserted
that → keep → interests
This is why obtaining permission for a project in the UK is now more difficult than building it.
asserted
obtaining → obtain → it
The planning application for the Lower Thames Crossing ran to nearly 360,000 pages and cost almost $400 million, more than twice what Norway paid to actually build the world’s longest road tunnel.
asserted
Norway → run → tunnel
All told, more than $1.6 billion was spent before a spade went into the ground.
asserted
spade → tell → ground
Such stories abound in Britain.
asserted
stories → abound → Britain
The do-gooders wanted to preserve local wildlife, a lovely sentiment.
asserted
gooders → want → wildlife
What happened in practice is that $133 million was loaded onto the cost of a tunnel to protect bats from a rail line.
asserted
million → happen → line
The do-gooders wanted to burnish their green credentials, and ended up exporting emissions to other nations whose products they bought while their own industries were hollowed out.
asserted
industries → want → products
The UK is not unlike California without Silicon Valley: all the gridlock, none of the growth to pay for it.
asserted
UK → pay → it
And it makes me want to cry.
asserted
me → make → ?
I see a nation of vast potential being slowly strangled by what we might call Shire syndrome.
uncertain
we → see → what
Entrepreneurs, business leaders and blue-collar workers don’t lack talent but are increasingly priced out of global markets.
asserted
Entrepreneurs → lack → markets
Old people struggle to heat their homes.
asserted
people → struggle → homes
With this warning in mind, let us circle back to America, a nation with so much going for it.
asserted
us → let → it
Again, I get the concerns about data centers but it’s worth stating that a moratorium in the US would not stop AI development.
asserted
moratorium → get → development
It would merely export it to the Gulf, China and beyond.
asserted
It → export → Gulf
And this would make American infrastructure vulnerable to cyberattack, the military vulnerable to foreign dominance and US companies vulnerable to competition.
asserted
companies → make → competition
When Trump says, “Whoever wins AI, wins,” he’s not kidding.
asserted
he → say → AI
But let us also acknowledge that AI supremacy, while a vital strategic interest, also requires a wise approach.
asserted
supremacy → let → approach
Without enough reliable baseload power, new data centers will strain the system.
asserted
centers → strain → system
Tech firms should be required to secure direct power sources, whether gas turbines, nuclear restarts or dedicated connections, rather than leaning solely on the grid.
asserted
firms → require → grid
Households shouldn’t pay for upgrades that serve AI companies.
asserted
that → pay → companies
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
