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David Turk, who serves as a distinguished visiting fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA, will testify at a full committee hearing of the United States House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, April 9, 2025. His testimony will focus on the data center and energy demands of the growing artificial intelligence industry.
“The United States is in a global race to develop artificial intelligence, and quickly and affordably powering this industry is a crucial piece of the puzzle,” said David Turk, CGEP distinguished visiting fellow. “Artificial intelligence is poised to drive innovative advancement on some of the crucial challenges of our time—from more effective cancer screening to a more reliable electric grid—but that innovation won’t be possible without meeting the energy demands of the data centers that AI needs. I am pleased to speak with policymakers on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce this week on this incredibly timely and important topic, on behalf of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA.”
David Turk served as Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Energy from March 2021 to January 2025. As Deputy Secretary, Turk served as the second-highest-ranking official and chief operating officer of the $50 billion per year federal agency. He orchestrated a major reorganization of the Department to create and staff new offices to demonstrate and deploy a wide variety of clean energy technologies; focused on early-stage innovation; led US delegations to various G7, G20, IEA, IAEA, and climate conferences; and coordinated bilaterally with dozens of countries around the world. Prior to joining DOE, Turk served as deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Virginia Law School.
Additional witnesses include Dr. Eric Schmidt, chair of the Special Competitive Studies Project; Manish Bhatia, executive vice president of global operations at Micron Technology; and Alexandr Wang, founder and chief executive officer of Scale AI.
More information on the hearing is available here and the hearing can be viewed here. David Turk’s testimony will be available on the CGEP website following the hearing.
Secretary Scott Bessent’s recent moves help explain something broader about the way this administration operates.
For decades we’ve seen nations exercise geopolitical dominance tied to their production and control of fossil fuels – especially oil. But that leverage may be changing. Last year, China installed nearly twenty times the amount of wind and solar as the United States. In this essay in The National Interest, the authors lay out a global political and economic realignment already underway. Petrostates, like those in OPEC, are increasingly at odds with electrostates like China and many in the EU. This isn’t to say that electrostates are not without resource challenges – they’re seriously dependent on mineral supply chains – but the challenges are different, as are the opportunities. When 70% of the world’s population lives in fossil-fuel-importing countries, how are these diverging resource paths shaping the global balances of power? Guests: Tatiana Mitrova, Global Fellow, Center on Global Energy Policy, Columbia University Vijay Vaitheeswaran, Global Energy & Climate Innovation Editor, The Economist Li Shuo, Director, China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute For show notes, related links, and episode transcript, visit https://climateone.org/podcasts Highlights: 00:00 – Intro 04:30 – Tatiana Mitrova on petrostates and the idea of electrostates 10:00 – Electrostates are already taking market share from petrostates 13:30 – How Mitrova sees balance of power shifting as world electrifies 17:15 – Vijay Vaitheeswaran on the concept of an electrostate 26:00 – How cheap electricity could allow developing nations to skip over fossil fuels 34:00 – Vaitheeswaran on how U.S. should take on industrial policy in this moment 38:00 – Li Shuo: China’s latest 5-year plan suggests it will double down on clean tech sector 41:00 – China installed nearly twenty times wind and solar as U.S. last year 49:30 – China is on track to become firs ********** Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today at patreon.com/ClimateOne. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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