Executive orders have stalled the development of offshore wind farms. A federal tax credit for electric vehicles is set to end. And a reported $22 billion in clean-energy projects have been canceled so far this year.

President Donald Trump and his administration have firmly pushed back against momentum once felt in the renewable energy industry. But one form of eco-friendly energy has continued a steady rise across the country and the world: solar power.

Environmental activist Bill McKibben wrote recently in the New Yorker that “solar power is now growing faster than any power source in history.” However, the federal government’s reluctance to lean in toward clean energy means other countries, like China, are positioned to lead the way instead.

That’s a major policy misstep, according to Dr. Gaurab Basu, a physician and assistant professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

“An energy transformation is happening around the world, and if we want to have affordable, abundant, clean energy, it’s here for the taking,” said Basu. “With the demand for electricity now with AI and with electrification, we need a lot more electricity. And frankly, a lot of what we’ve done is to go backwards on providing this electricity that is of need and is good for the planet.”

AI data centers demand high rates of electricity. They also drain resources from local communities. But Beth Daley, executive editor and general manager of The Conversation, U.S., said she’s also concerned about the financial costs to residents living near the energy-guzzling data centers.

“Currently, the way utilities charge customers, they share the costs among the public,” Daley said. “If state regulators are going to allow utilities to follow this normal way of splitting the cost of new infrastructure among all its consumers, the public is going to have to wind up paying to supply data centers with all that power. Now, do they get something out of it? Sure, we’re all using AI, too — but you can make the argument that Meta is actually getting more out of it than the customers in a particular geographic location.”

Basu said he’s also thinking about how to mitigate the long-term concerns he has about AI data centers. He compares the public’s eagerness to embrace AI to disruptive technologies like the internet and social media, and the need to define rules and boundaries.

“How do we make sure we create the right safeguards and optimize the value and minimize the harm? We are not doing appropriate accounting,” Dr. Basu said. “How much water will it take actually? The equipment warms up so much that they have to put it in water to keep it cool; it’s an extraordinary amount of resources. I think thoughtfulness and being careful and really being averse to some of the harms here is really important.”

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has shut down the Environmental Protection Agency’s research arm, the Office of Research and Development. Daley said this move will have far-reaching consequences for all Americans.

“They analyze the dangers posed by toxic chemicals, climate change, smog, wildfires, drinking water pollutants, watershed destruction – you name it. They also issued grants that funded universities and private companies to work on them for solutions. It’s a big loss,” Daley said. “I don’t think we’re going to see rivers on fire again. I think we’re going to see some big increases in pollution and harm to people because our eyes aren’t on the prize.”

All that and more in this week’s environmental news roundtable!

Guests

  • Beth Daley, executive editor and general manager of The Conversation, U.S.
  • Dr. Gaurab Basu, physician and assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, assistant professor of global health & social medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Stories discussed in this week’s roundtable