Renewable energy sources will not solve the climate crisis

Amazon’s plan to use renewable energy instead of natural gas fuel cells to power new data centers sounds good on the surface (“Amazon withdraws plan to use natural gas fuel cells to power Oregon data centers,” June 10). However, this is not good if you look at it from a broader, systemic perspective.

The first problem is that Amazon’s data centers increase energy consumption. Powering this growth with renewable energy will only fuel it. This does nothing to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions as all existing uses of fossil fuels remain unchanged.

The second problem is that renewable energy has a carbon footprint in all aspects except the operation of the device itself. Amazon and others would like you to think that renewable energy is clean and carbon-free, but it is not. Even if Amazon data centers are powered by renewable energy, there is still some increase in carbon emissions.

The third problem is that renewable energy sources have different impacts on the landscape and wildlife, creating new problems that will need to be solved. These concerns have recently been reflected in resistance to proposed wind farms on the Oregon coast (“Readers respond: Offshore wind farms pose environmental concerns,” May 26).

As long as energy consumption, even renewable energy, continues to grow, climate change will continue to intensify. If we are ever to mitigate climate change, we need to get serious about significantly reducing energy consumption.

David Garen of Portland

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