Recently, I was watching something on perhaps Discovery Channel about Google's data center they were building near Portland (I think). This was the same area that once housed Alcoa's huge Aluminum producing plants. These plants needed the massive amounts of cheap power provided by the dams on the Columbia river. These plants help America in W.W.II and the country thereafter to grow in prosperity.

The plants are long gone, probably moved to some off shore location, taking the jobs with them. These plants produced useable material from raw ore dug from our own mines. Think of all the uses of aluminum in our daily lives. Look how many siding salesman it provides jobs for.

Now, all the output of those dams is being used to power Google's new facility. And for what? To house the electrons of data that help make the Internet what it is. This includes the sewer of porn, scams, ads, misinformation and everything else bad which tends to dominates its usefulness.

I don't think that is a fair exchange. That renewable power could be better used to offset fossil fuel produced power elsewhere. And most certainly should not be used to store all the internet crap just so people can find it faster. Perhaps its time we stop Google from trying to own the internet by its vast dominance in storage capability.