China announced additional tariffs of 34% on U.S. goods on Friday, the most serious escalation in a trade war with President Donald Trump that has fed fears of a recession and triggered a global stock market rout.
In the standoff between the world’s top two economies, Beijing also announced controls on exports of some rare earths and filed a complaint at the World Trade Organisation.
The Trump administration identified 16 sites for the development of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers Thursday on land owned by the Department of Energy.
The centers comprise rows of servers providing processing capacity for machine learning, cloud storage and AI systems that require massive amounts of electricity and computing power.
“The global race for AI dominance is the next Manhattan project, and with President Trump’s leadership and the innovation of our National Labs, the United States can and will win,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a Thursday statement.
The Trump administration, like the preceding Biden administration, is making liberal use of a little-known Cold War law called the “Defense Production Act” (DPA). Utilization principally goes like this: The administration identifies some sort of production deficiency (e.g., minerals, solar panels, heat pumps) and then invokes the DPA, declaring it an issue of national defense in order to accelerate production. This process may seem simple, but its repeated use in recent years sows seeds for future problems. In many ways, the DPA is just a Band-Aid—it doesn’t actually address the fundamental causes of the scarcity it seeks to remedy.
Signed into law in 1950, the DPA was intended to address the market failure in which private enterprise does not provide for the common defense. This lesson was learned some years earlier during World War II, when—although the United States eventually became an industrial powerhouse churning out weapons—it took time and several laws to shift manufacturers to the more pressing (albeit less profitable) tanks, aircraft, and other materiel needed. The DPA somewhat preserves this WWII-era authority, ensuring that if the country finds itself in another major conflict, it will no longer take years to direct the nation’s industry toward war efforts.
As California continues to face long-term wildfire impact, sustainable construction company Hempitecture has expanded operations into Southern California. The Boise-based manufacturer has opened a new fulfillment hub near Los Angeles to help meet growing demand for resilient, eco-conscious building materials across the wildfire-affected region.
Hempitecture’s expansion establishes a regional distribution center from which the company can streamline deliveries, reduce shipping time and costs, and ensure faster access to materials for architects, builders, and developers working on post-wildfire reconstruction projects.
The former Homer City generating station in the US state of Pennsylvania, once the state’s largest coal-burning power plant, is to be redeveloped into a 4.5GW natural gas-powered power plant named Homer City Energy Campus.
Developed by Homer City Redevelopment, the project will support the rising power demand from AI and high-performance computing sectors.
With an initial capital investment exceeding $10bn, the project represents Pennsylvania’s most significant investment in power infrastructure and site readiness.
Artificial intelligence is changing the world at an incredible pace. From automating tasks to generating human-like conversations, AI is becoming an essential tool in nearly every industry. However, many people don’t realize that AI consumes a massive amount of electricity.
Training large AI models requires high-performance computing, which demands significant energy. The power needed to train a single AI model can be equivalent to the yearly energy use of hundreds of homes. As AI adoption increases, so does its electricity consumption, putting pressure on power grids, driving up costs, and raising concerns about sustainability.
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Co-locating data centers with energy sources is a practical solution that could help keep AI’s energy use under control. Instead of relying on power from overloaded grids, AI companies could build data centers directly next to power plants—especially renewable energy facilities like wind and solar farms and hydroelectric dams. Co-location would reduce costs, improve efficiency, and make AI operations sustainable.
At the same time, building data centers directly next to energy sources could be a game changer. One of the most significant advantages is cost savings. When energy is transported over long distances, some is lost along the way, and extra fees are incurred for transmission and distribution. By placing data centers at the source, AI companies can purchase electricity at lower prices and avoid these additional costs.
Energy efficiency is another significant benefit. When data centers are connected directly to power plants, they can use electricity more efficiently, reducing waste and improving overall performance. This is especially important as AI models evolve and require more computing power.
Sustainability is also a key factor. The tech industry is under increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint, and AI is no exception. Many data centers today still rely on electricity from fossil fuels, which contributes to carbon emissions and climate change. By co-locating with renewable energy plants, AI companies can power their operations with clean energy, significantly reducing their environmental impact.
>>>READ: Accelerating American AI and Energy Dominance on Military Bases and National Labs
This approach boasts enhanced reliability. Many regions face unstable energy grids, leading to power outages and disruptions. Data centers near dedicated power sources can ensure a steady electricity supply, making AI operations more reliable and less dependent on fluctuating grid conditions.
Some companies are already moving in this direction. Google, for example, has been investing in data centers powered by renewable energy sources to cut emissions and reduce costs. Microsoft and Amazon are exploring similar strategies, recognizing that the future of AI must be both efficient and sustainable.
If more AI companies adopt this approach, the benefits will be far-reaching. Energy providers will have a stable and predictable buyer for their electricity, encouraging further investment in renewable energy. Consumers will benefit from lower electricity prices as AI companies move away from traditional power grids. Most importantly, AI will be able to scale without putting additional strain on global energy systems or contributing to climate change.
While all innovations come with necessary trade-offs, artificial intelligence growth need not result in higher electricity bills or environmental costs Co-locating data centers with energy sources is an innovative, practical solution that benefits businesses, consumers, and the planet. Now is the time to make it a standard practice, ensuring that AI can continue to power the future—without overwhelming our energy supply.
Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill Monday designed to crack open the door to a new nuclear energy era in Colorado, disregarding a coalition of environmental groups asking for a veto.
The legislation, HB25-1040, redefines nuclear as a “clean energy resource” since it doesn’t release large amounts of climate-warming emissions. The category was previously reserved for renewables like wind, solar and geothermal, which don’t carry the radioactive stigma that’s hobbled fission power plants following disasters like Chernobyl and Fukushima.
In an emailed statement, Ally Sullivan, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said the law doesn’t advance any specific nuclear energy project, and no utility has proposed building a nuclear power plant in Colorado. It does, however, allow nuclear energy to potentially serve as one piece of the state’s plan to tackle climate change.
Nations once relegated to the margins of economic discourse are now sprinting toward prosperity, their trajectories propelled by a single, unifying force: energy.
Energy is indispensable. From the huge AI data centers in the U.S. to the mega-scale manufacturing factories in China, affordable and dependable energy supplies make all the difference between living and thriving.
Access to domestic energy resources – or the ability to secure imports – unlocks a cascade of opportunity: Jobs multiply, infrastructure rises, and governments gain the fiscal muscle to invest in their people.
Oil and gas, derided by climate elites as relics of a bygone era, are proving instead to be the engines of a new dawn. A cohort of nations is charting a radically different course fueled by the unyielding pragmatism of hydrocarbon exploitation.
Innovation, investment, and the cleanest possible energy production thrive best in freer markets that encourage competition instead of having politicians pick winners and losers. That, in a nutshell, is the lesson of the latest Free Economies are Clean Economies report.
Measured by private property rights, business, labor, trade and monetary freedom, and government size and integrity, more economic freedom generates more wealth for people and societies, leading to a more flourishing environment. Without economic freedom, people, societies, and the environment all suffer.
Consider how that works in a fast-growing American state. “Texas is a big state blessed with abundant natural resources and ideal conditions for renewable power,” Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX) wrote in a foreword to this year’s Free Economies are Clean Economies report. “Ask yourself: Would you rather have the U.S. economy or one like China, Russia, Mexico, or Haiti? Would you rather have the environmental quality of Switzerland or Venezuela?”
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The Texas Congressman’s rhetorical question makes the point. Like Texas, environmentalists should promote economic freedom. Innovation, investment, and energy production thrive best in freer markets that encourage competition rather than markets where politicians pick winners and losers.
Contrast that with China. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) wants to position itself as a leader in clean energy. It has vowed to bring CO2 emissions down sharply and has invested in clean energy production. But that’s a smokescreen. If there’s anything that’s a hoax about climate change, it’s China’s policies. In other words, China is the real climate hoax.
Much of China’s investment has more to do with dominating markets than improving the environment. As the International Energy Agency reported last year, China makes more than 80 percent of the world’s solar panels and their components (such as polysilicon, ingots, wafers, cells, and modules). That’s more than double what the country would need to make for its domestic use.
By dumping all that excess equipment on the global market, China has driven manufacturing in other countries out of business and created a level of dependency that benefits Beijing politically. As long ago as 2012, China poured $35 billion into solar subsidies, chasing American makers into bankruptcy. It’s spent tens of billions in the years since, even as many governments, especially in Europe, mandate the use of solar and wind. They have had to turn to China to obtain those solar panels or wind turbines, further cementing its advantage. These unfair trade practices amount to market manipulation and modern mercantilism.
Freedom is the key to a cleaner environment, of course, not the government picking winners and losers based on how some politicians want to define ‘clean’.
Our current Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, understands this well. As he wrote in a previous edition of our Free Economies are Clean Economies report, “There is no such thing as ‘clean’ energy or ‘dirty’ energy. All energy sources have positive and negative impacts on humans and the environment.”
Now-Secretary Wright wrote that “Evaluating the tradeoffs in energy systems requires thoughtful analysis in the context of local conditions, values, and needs. It also requires energy from free markets: allow people to make decisions about their own energy future without subsidizing or constraining one form of energy over another.”
Meanwhile, the CCP is not even close to practicing what it preaches about using “green” energy. China’s use of solar and wind dropped at the end of 2024, while its use of coal continues to grow, providing more than half of the energy used in China each year. As C3 recently wrote in a report, China is no green energy darling.
>>>READ: New C3 Solutions Report: China is No Green Energy Darling
Here at home, cleaner American coal provides less than 10 percent of our energy, and thanks to our abundant natural gas, our domestic greenhouse gas emissions are plunging. That’s true across the board, but especially for methane emissions, which have dropped almost 20 percent in recent years. China’s CO2 emissions jumped nearly 4 percent annually in 2021, 2022, and 2023, even as its GDP growth slowed.
Simply put, China is less energy efficient. China uses roughly 20 percent more energy to produce a unit of GDP than the United States does.
China’s climate hoax doesn’t stop there. The CCP also wants to corner the market on the supply chain, particularly the rare earths that will be needed to build a clean energy infrastructure.
Rare earth elements (REE) are essential to many sectors of our economy, including renewable energy, manufacturing, and defense equipment. China supplies about 80 percent of our REE, and that near-monopoly gives Beijing even more leverage over the “green” economy.
Two years ago, a House Select Committee recommended that “Congress should incentivize the production of rare earth element magnets, which are the principal end-use for rare earth elements and used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, wireless technology, and countless other products.”
That means more mining here at home and more deals with friendly nations, including Brazil and Australia, which are traditional trading partners with plenty of access to REE. President Trump can help here by cutting red tape that limits U.S. mining and refining and building stronger alliances with countries that share our free market values.
So, don’t look to China’s failing policies, which are paraded as a cleaner climate future. That is the real climate hoax. Look here—at America, states like Texas, and our freedom-loving allies around the world—for the best climate solutions.
Let freedom ring, and people and the planet will flourish.
Reducing the amount of agricultural sprays used by farmers — including fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides — could cut down the amount of runoff that ends up in the environment while at the same time reducing farmers’ costs and perhaps even enhancing their productivity. A classic win-win-win.
A team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a spinoff company they launched has developed a system to do just that. Their technology adds a thin coating around droplets as they are being sprayed onto a field, greatly reducing their tendency to bounce off leaves and end up wasted on the ground. Instead, the coated droplets stick to the leaves as intended.
