California governor hopeful Tom Steyer flip-flops on AI data centers | Latest Tech News
Democrat Tom Steyer has been taking part in up his monitor file of climate advocacy in his bid for California governor — but a flip-flop on his place concerning AI data centers could infuriate some environmentalists backing the billionaire’s marketing campaign.
Greenpeace launched its grades of the the crowded discipline of gubernatorial candidates and gave Steyer an “A” grade, one of only two candidates to obtain that mark.
One of the platforms on which candidates had been graded was the promise to enact a moratorium on new data centers, which AI firms and other companies store servers in to help make the web and other digital providers work more successfully.
Candidate Tom Steyer REUTERS
Those data centers have seen unprecedented investment thanks to the AI increase, but they also have grow to be more politically contentious as neighbors dwelling next to them contend with their heavy water and electrical energy usage. Environmentalists hate the centers for such impacts on the setting.
On the Greenpeace survey, Steyer’s marketing campaign marked “Yes” when requested about supporting a moratorium on data middle “until regulations can be put in place that will protect ratepayers and require new renewable energy capacity and sustainable water procurement.”
Steyer elaborated additional in the survey that “no new data centers should be built in our state unless they pay their own way so they don’t cost ratepayers a dime.” Companies ought to pay for all power usage, he argued, as properly as bills to preserve and update the power grid.
But the billionaire had beforehand told Politico he didn’t assume a moratorium was needed, instead stressing a focus on guaranteeing electrical energy charges don’t increase at data centers and communities’ water received’t be “stolen.”
An aerial view of a 33 megawatt data middle (C) with closed-loop cooling system on April 14, 2026 in Vernon, California. Getty Images
A Steyer spokesperson clarified to Politico on Monday that he isn’t calling for a moratorium on data centers.
“As governor, Tom will enforce these standards on any proposed data centers in the state,” the spokesperson said. “If the wealthiest companies in the world are raising electricity demand in California, they should pay the bill and be required to lower electricity costs for everyone else.”
Greenpeace USA Climate Director Amy Moas issued a stern warning to Steyer on not backing a moratorium.
“If he’s changing his position, we will be changing his grade,” she told Politico.
This will not be the first time Steyer has confronted questions about his pro-environment monitor file.
Rivals in the race have repeatedly hammered him for making his wealth off of a hedge fund that invested in fossil fuel firms. Steyer has long maintained that he left the investment world to focus on climate change, telling voters he “walked away” from his hedge fund to struggle global warming.
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