Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick claimed on Wednesday that data centers do not use water, a statement that contradicts recent industry data and ongoing public concern. During an interview with CNBC, Lutnick dismissed the environmental impact of these massive facilities while framing the opposition as a coordinated effort by foreign powers to hinder American technological progress.
Lutnick told CNBC that “One of my favorite things is when people talk about data centers using water. The No. 1 product in America that uses water is cattle.” He doubled down on this perspective by stating, “I mean, data centers don’t use water,” and characterized the pushback as “propaganda by our adversaries to try to slow us down.”
President Trump recently shared his support for the industry on Truth Social, writing, “The good news is that there are plenty of other places that want them. If we kill the Golden Goose, you will only have yourselves to blame. China could not be happier with this anti Data Center movement.”
Lutnick’s stance aligns with the broader strategy of the Trump administration regarding its defense of AI infrastructure
President Trump also urged the nation to “let Data reign” and suggested that those opposing these facilities simply want their communities to remain “backwards and poor.” While Lutnick and the President are framing this as a national security necessity, the actual numbers regarding water consumption tell a different story.
A 2024 report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory found that data centers used an estimated 66 billion liters of water in 2023. The report further projects that hyperscale data centers alone will consume between 60 billion and 124 billion liters by 2028. Even though industry trade groups have started to acknowledge that these facilities do use water, they often point to new technologies like closed-loop cooling systems as a way to mitigate the impact.
The public pushback isn’t just about water, either. Communities across the country have been raising alarms about rising electric bills, noise pollution, and general environmental degradation caused by these massive server farms.
AI companies have tried to keep the focus on other industries that use significantly more water, such as traditional power plants and agriculture. For example, government estimates from 2015 showed that power plants were the largest water users in the country, followed by irrigation. By shifting the conversation toward these larger consumers, the AI industry hopes to paint the concerns about their own footprint as overblown.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on Thursday to discuss draft legislation aimed at addressing the water usage of these data centers.
Published: Sep 3, 2026 02:30 pm