The scare tactics against data centers have been pretty much successful. Many Americans do not realize that much of the opposition to these centers is funded by Chinese Communist money–we currently have the advantage in data centers and artificial intelligence–the Chinese Communists would like to change that.

On of the objections to data centers is the use of large amounts of water for cooling. Well, it seems that Elon Musk has an answer to that problem.

On Thursday, Ground News posted an article about SpaceX plans to build a supercomputing campus in Cochise County, Arizona.

The article reports:

• On Thursday, SpaceX announced plans to invest more than $74 billion in two supercomputing campuses, allocating $24 billion for Starbase, Texas and roughly $50 billion for a facility in Cochise County, Arizona.
• The Elon Musk-led company is diversifying operations, as its AI segment generated more than half its third-quarter revenue, expanding beyond traditional rocket and Starlink satellite internet businesses.
• Job projections show thousands of new roles across both sites: Arizona aims for 5,500 construction and 1,000 permanent jobs, while Starbase supports 3,000 construction and 500 permanent positions once operational.
• While the project could reduce bills for local electric cooperative members by up to 20%, the Arizona facility faces opposition with a 2,400-signature petition urging officials to deny the required permit.

On Friday, Economic Collapse reported:

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is proposing one of the largest computing projects in American history right in the middle of the Arizona desert, and the company is doing it without sucking the local aquifer dry. A roughly $50 billion supercomputing campus in Cochise County would train the company’s superintelligence models while supporting medical research, emergency response, manufacturing, and national security work. The entire complex is designed around dry cooling so it never uses industrial groundwater.

…Water is the issue that usually kills these projects in the West. Conventional data centers rely on evaporative cooling towers that can consume millions of gallons a day. SpaceX is using sealed, closed liquid loops that carry heat to fan-cooled dry coolers. The system is filled once, with an estimated 3 to 5 million gallons, and that water can be reused for up to ten years.

If we are going to stay competitive with China, we need date centers. The data center debate reminds me of some family history. My father-in-law was a pioneer in radio in the 1920’s. When he wanted to start a radio station in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the farmers opposed it, saying that the transmitting tower would make the cows sterile. He dated (later married) a local girl who convinced her father who was a farmer to allow the station. That station is now WICC. Just to add to the story, he later left radio to become a pioneer in a new industry–talking pictures!