- US Interior Sectrary believes winning the AI arms race is a priority
- We need lots of electricity now – renewables aren’t up to the job
- Climate change is ‘solvable’ – AI could even help
Speaking at a natural gas industry event in Italy promoting fossil fuels for AI power (via YouTube), US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum claimed the true existential threat is the US losing the AI arms race, not climate change.
Burgum acknowledged that climate change is indeed a concern, but it’s a ‘solvable’ one and less urgent than AI dominance.
He also criticized the global $5 trillion investment in wind, solar and batteries, calling it ineffective and inflationary.
Is winning the AI race more important than climate change?
Despite strong progress, renewables are still seen as too slow and costly, especially to meet AI energy demands. The event’s emphasis was on cheap and abundant energy to power AI data centers, with AI causing the highest use of electricity in human history.
However, ongoing geopolitical tensions continue to influence both climate change and artificial intelligence infrastructure, with the US planning to end Russian imports of uranium (for nuclear energy) by 2028.
On the other side of the coin, China’s strategy involves investing in all forms of energy – including coal, nuclear, wind and solar – to ensure maximum energy security and maintain its export advantage.
Speaking at the event, Trump’s Interior Secretary emphasized the need to focus on the humans on the planet today, not future generations, claiming that saving the planet depends on winning the AI arms race and not preventing one degree of global warming by 2100.
“We need power to do that, and we need it right now,” he stated.
Countering Burgum’s viewpoint, scientists estimate that we’re actually on track to read 2.7-3 degrees of global warming by 2100, and AI energy demands are only worsening this trend.
Although artificial intelligence could hold the key to unlocking greater climate change fixes, it’s also clear that a divide is emerging between whether further expansions – at the risk of sustainability – are going to be worth it.
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