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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...
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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.
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This Energy Explained post represents the research and views of the author. It does not necessarily represent the views of the Center on Global Energy Policy. The piece...
This Energy Explained post represents the research and views of the author. It does not necessarily represent the views of the Center on Global Energy Policy. The piece...
Can artificial intelligence help cut emissions of greenhouse gases? In this second edition of the Artificial Intelligence for Climate Change Mitigation Roadmap, a team of 25 co-authors led by CGEP Inaugural Fellow David Sandalow explores that question, finding that AI has the potential to make significant contributions to fighting climate change. The Roadmap’s 17 chapters provide introductions to AI and climate change, examine the potential for AI to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in eight sectors and discuss cross-cutting topics such as large language models and government policy. Each chapter includes 5-10 specific, actionable recommendations for realizing AI’s potential to help fight climate change.
