On Friday, New York State Senators Liz Krueger and Kristen Gonzales introduced a bill that would stop the issuance of permits for new data centers for at least three years and ninety days to give time for impact assessments and to update regulations. The bill would require the Department of Environmental Conservation and Public Service Commissions to issue impact statements and reports during the pause, along with any new orders or regulations that they deem necessary to minimize data centers' impacts on the environment and consumers in New York.

The bill would require these departments to study data centers' water, electricity and gas usage, and their impact on the rates of these resources, among other things. The bill, citing a Bloomberg analysis, notes that, "Nationally, household electricity rates increased 13 percent in 2025, largely driven by the development of data centers." New York is the sixth state this year to introduce a bill aiming to put the brakes on data centers, following in the footsteps of Georgia, Maryland, Oklahoma, Vermont and Virginia, according to Wired. It's still very much in the early stages, and is now with the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee for consideration. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/new-york-lawmakers-introduce-bill-that-aims-to-halt-data-center-development-for-three-years-224005266.html?src=rss

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The State Department is wiping the post history of its X accounts and making it so you'll have to file a Freedom of Information Act request if you want to access any of the content it removed, according to NPR. The publication reports that the State Department is removing all posts from before President Trump's current term — a move that affects several accounts associated with the department, including those for US embassies, and posts from the Biden and Obama administrations. Posts from Trump's first term will be taken down too. 

Unlike how past administrations have handled the removal of social media content and the transition of accounts, these posts won't be kept in a public archive. A spokesperson for the State Department confirmed this to NPR, and said the move is meant "to limit confusion on U.S government policy and to speak with one voice to advance the President, Secretary, and Administration's goals and messaging. It will preserve history while promoting the present." The spokesperson also called the X accounts "one of our most powerful tools for advancing the America First goals." 

The Trump administration has been purging information from government websites since he took office last year. Just this week, the CIA unexpectedly took down its World Factbook, a global reference guide that's been available on the internet since 1997.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/the-state-department-is-scrubbing-its-x-accounts-of-all-posts-from-before-trumps-second-term-205515745.html?src=rss

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