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Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country

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Re: Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country

#261

Post by nickpp »

kennywinker wrote: post #78
xnx wrote: post #76

Do real people genuinely care about this more than CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) (for example)?

I can eat animals off a feedlot. I can’t eat anything that comes out of an ai data center. Why are you ok with spending $100 on groceries but not $100 on poison?

Software running modern farming runs in datacenters. For example, AI checking images from drones monitoring health of crops, then directing drones with treatment.

Software ate the world, now the world eats software.

Re: Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country

#262

Post by noosphr »

Aurornis wrote: post #256
noosphr wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Killing you slowly is very much violence.

That is also not violence. I think you should look up the dictionary definition of violence, because none of your usages of the word match the definition.

Violence is defined by the World Health Organization in the WRVH as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation”.

Which definition are you using?

Re: Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country

#263

Post by cootsnuck »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #255
cootsnuck wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems fairly likely that a comically gargantuan data center like Stratos would endanger the surrounding ecosystem, at a minimum. https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2026/05/07/utahs-dat... But I also think there's very little chance that they even get 1 GW up and running anytime soon, and less than 3 GW before the whole thing gets scrapped (just like plenty of the other hyperscale data center projects that kee…

No one needs that much AI, even if they did need that much AI there are more efficient and cheaper ways to make it happen, and even if there weren't these boxes will be obsolete within 3-4 years. The whole thing is baffling. If I were cynical I'd wonder if they're actually trying to cook the planet. Or maybe there's some kind of tax grift involved. Makes no sense at all otherwise.

Yea, I wonder the same. Something I've been wanting to read up on is how the land ownership works with these data center deals.

Because developers promising massive projects to scoop up a bunch of land, do little to nothing with it, sit on it for awhile, and then eventually just sell it for a profit...that's not a new thing at all and isn't unique to the tech industry.

I wouldn't be surprised if a not-so-insignificant part of all of this winds up being just banking land that you got zoning, entitlements, and maybe some utility infra stuff setup for.

That may also explain some of the kind of puzzling cloak and dagger behavior with so many of these data center initiatives in local communities. If you truly think you're about to build something that is going to "imminently transform the way we do everything" and become some kind of $X trillion dollar industry, I'd imagine you'd be showing up with better "gifts" to ensure quick frictionless approval. But if they're more so viewing project proposals as speculative investments for control of land that is hopefully desirable to a bunch of tech firms (whether that's now or years from now), then keeping costs low and details vague early on makes more sense.

Re: Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country

#264

Post by cratermoon »

jwarden wrote: post #250
cratermoon wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I knew someone would come out and say that. To answer your question, I have driven through, multiple times. I suggest starting with Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire to raise your awareness.

Edward Abby wrote about southern Utah. Red rock country. Box Elder County is northern Utah. Night and day.

You missed the point. Ecosystems are not wastelands. Abbey’s descriptions of his Utah are compelling, but he’s still in places the uninformed would call dusty wastelands.

Re: Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country

#265

Post by Gormo »

cootsnuck wrote: post #164
mmmeff wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, we should build it in a third world country instead!

I'd argue we don't need to build a 9 GW data center anywhere. But that's just me.

Why do you presume yourself to be part of the "we" in question? This seems like it's a case of other people using their own resources to do things that don't involve you; what's your stake in it?

And given your correct acknowledgement that it's "just you" expressing subjective normative opinions about things you're not involved in, what valid basis do you have for assessing what anyone who is involved actually needs?

Re: Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country

#266

Post by Gormo »

kennywinker wrote: post #133
cryptoegorophy wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If water is the problem then why are we ignoring how much water beef needs? If we measure per person use it is hundreds times more than data center usage in comparison if we measure in per person consumption

Beef uses water, but you can eat beef. Ai uses water, but you can’t eat ai. Can you see the difference?

Was anyone proposing to eat AI? Was anyone proposing to do data processing with a pot roast?

Why is the difference in what specific use case the consumers of these products are serving with them one that's relevant to the discussion?

Re: Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country

#267

Post by Gormo »

ralph84 wrote: post #54
AuthAuth wrote: post #43

This datacenter stuff is such populist brainrot.

Big Tech isn't exactly doing a great job of marketing them. Saying they're for AI while doing mass layoffs attributed to AI isn't a winning message.

Why does the construction of buildings to run business operations of any kind need to be "marketed" in the first place, absent manipulative media campaigns trying to manufacture a controversy around them?

Re: Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country

#268

Post by Gormo »

davkan wrote: post #183
umeshunni wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a class of people who'll run with it - the same people who were protesting 5G towers 5 years ago.

What? The people against datacenter construction are absolutely not the same as the people freaking out about 5g towers. The latter share circle on the venn diagram with horse paste connoisseurs.

People objecting to buildings existing on account of the possibility that other people might do things they don't like inside them are in the same category as horse paste connoisseurs, in my opinion.

Re: Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country

#269

Post by Gormo »

october8140 wrote: post #48
AuthAuth wrote: post #43

This datacenter stuff is such populist brainrot.

I take it you don't live next to a data center.

How would you know? I mean, I'm surrounded by lots of buildings, but I'm not usually aware of what's going on in ones I don't go inside of. There are lots of warehouse-sized buildings all over, and whether those buildings contain racks full of servers or something else entirely isn't something I'd immediately discern.

Re: Erin Brockovich made a map to track data centers around the country

#270

Post by cratermoon »

cootsnuck wrote: post #263
TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one needs that much AI, even if they did need that much AI there are more efficient and cheaper ways to make it happen, and even if there weren't these boxes will be obsolete within 3-4 years. The whole thing is baffling. If I were cynical I'd wonder if they're actually trying to cook the planet. Or maybe there's some kind of tax grift involved. Makes no sense at all otherwise.

Yea, I wonder the same. Something I've been wanting to read up on is how the land ownership works with these data center deals. Because developers promising massive projects to scoop up a bunch of land, do little to nothing with it, sit on it for awhile, and then eventually just sell it for a profit...that's not a new thing at all and isn't unique to the tech industry. I wouldn't be surprised if a not-so-insignifican…

It's absolutely likely that this Stratos project is a way to lock up land for future development. From Ogden to Provo there are really only two places to expand. West along I-80 a bit into the Oquirrh Mountains, but that runs into the salt flats and DoD land, or NW along I-84 into - you guessed it - Box Elder county. And for those calling it a wasteland, it’s easy to justify turning it into suburbs much like the suburbs of LA. Provided you can get water rights. Proposing an AI hyperscale data center to scoop up money and water for the entire area is the perfect scheme for a pivot to development.
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