by Winston Wendell
Donald Trump has pursued one scandalous policy after another in his second term. One of the latest initiatives that perfectly represents the president’s disregard for the public interest in favor of big business. In essence, the policy allows big tech companies to score a decade-long billion-dollar tax break by building AI data centers on public lands.
One commentator has summarized the issue by noting that tax breaks are nothing more than a “windfall” given to big tech companies. Indeed, a separate fiscal analysis report noted that thanks to new Trump administration rules, major technology companies, including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, would benefit enormously from being able to “accelerate the depreciation of data center equipment.”Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Netflix, Apple, and Microsoft collectively pay an average effective tax rate of 18.8%, far below what the average American pays in taxes.
Environmentalists have pointed out that the policy is short-sighted because it will fuel the American west’s newest land-use fights. For example, ranchers, farmers, conservationists, and indigenous peoples’ representatives from a significant number of western states, including Utah, Nevada, and Montana, have raised concerns about the environmental impact of technology giants building their data centers in the region. The companies would use huge amounts of water to cool the data centers and would have to build new power lines and roads, disrupting local wildlife.
Trump’s initiative on AI is counterproductive because it fails to acknowledge the fact that cutting big tech companies’ taxes will reduce the resources for critical social programs that support the American middle class. Furthermore, the technology companies have more than enough money to research and develop innovative AI technologies without taxing the public.
The Trump administration and Donald Trump has pursued a policy that hurts the public, benefits corporations, and will destroy the environment.
Blue Press Journal 