Also: France’s Wildfires and New Chinese Activity East of Taiwan

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Edited by Carter Hutchinson and Hannah Bowen

Happy Thursday! In today’s newsletter, we examine how much water US data centers use, how reducing carbon emissions may impact fire risk in the future, and new activity from the People’s Republic of China in waters east of Taiwan.

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1. How Much Water Do Data Centers Really Use? ([link removed] )

Data centers in the US directly use approximately 17.5 billion gallons of water annually—a fraction of the water used each year by other industries. By comparison, maintenance for residential lawns and turf uses 3.2 trillion gallons of water, and California’s almond industry uses 1.3–1.6 trillion gallons of water annually. AEI’s Daniel Lyons clarifies ([link removed] ) , “The concern over electricity use is more significant. Data centers are tremendous consumers of electricity, requiring utilities to build new generation facilities and upgrade existing infrastructure.”

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More on Data Centers
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2. Reducing Carbon Emissions Won’t Solve Wildfires ([link removed] )

Over the past 45 years, weather conditions conducive to fire in Mediterranean France have increased, but the total area burned in France decreased from 2002 to 2024. Despite claims that reducing carbon emissions can reduce fire impacts and risks, wildfires like those burning in France depend on many other factors, not just weather. AEI’s Roger Pielke Jr. makes the case ([link removed] ) that “justifying decarbonization as a fire-risk reduction policy—as so many are about France this month—misleads the public and distracts from policies that can actually make a difference.”

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More on France’s Wildfires
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3. China’s Presence East of Taiwan ([link removed] )

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) continues to conduct what it calls marine research operations in waters east of Taiwan, likely intending to establish further PRC presence and support jurisdictional claims. Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration has criticized China’s deployment of fisheries vessels for surveys in Taiwan’s Exclusive Economic Zone. AEI’s Dan Blumenthal and his Coalition Defense of Taiwan coauthors write ([link removed] ) , “This incident fits within the PRC’s broader pattern of using civilian and quasi-civilian maritime assets to advance its jurisdictional claims by establishing a more permanent presence in disputed waters while avoiding direct armed confrontation.”

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More on Taiwan
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Dive into More Data

08.06_Fedasiuk ([link removed] )

Industrial Competition for Artificial Intelligence ([link removed] )

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08.06_Malkus ([link removed] )

Chronic Absenteeism in Georgia ([link removed] )

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Special thanks to Jacinth Planer and Drew Kirkpatrick.

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