Google illegally cut down 250K trees in Finland for data center

Google illegally demolished an estimated 250,000 trees in Finland to make way for a data center, leaving behind a lifeless mud wasteland that forced packs of wolves into a nearby town in search of food and infuriated locals, according to a report.

据报道，谷歌在芬兰非法砍伐了约 25 万棵树木，为建设数据中心腾出空间，留下一片死气沉沉的泥泞荒地，迫使狼群进入附近城镇觅食，并激怒了当地居民。

The tech super giant – continuing its expansion of the booming artificial intelligence industry – cleared 816 acres of woodlands in Northern Finland, The Guardian reported Thursday.

据《卫报》周四报道，这家科技巨头在继续扩张其蓬勃发展的人工智能产业的同时，清理了芬兰北部 816 英亩的林地。

Google is accused of removing the trees and clearing the land before it had full approval — as Finnish law requires companies to complete a mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment before large-scale operations.

谷歌被指控在获得全面批准之前就砍伐树木并清理土地，而芬兰法律要求企业在进行大规模作业前必须完成强制性的环境影响评估。

Finnish officials, outraged by the mass destruction, suspended all development at two of Google’s data center sites to assess the environmental impact.

芬兰官员对这种大规模破坏行为感到愤怒，暂停了谷歌两个数据中心站点的所有开发工作，以评估环境影响。

The operation took place outside the rural town of Muhos — southeast of Finland’s fifth-largest city, Oulu — as devastating images of the aftermath captured the vast barren land filled only with tire tracks, muddy puddles and mounds of dirt.

此次作业发生在芬兰第五大城市奥卢东南部的穆霍斯小镇外。现场惨状的图片显示，广阔的土地变得荒芜，只剩下轮胎印、泥坑和土堆。

The removal of the large area of trees destroyed the wildlife in the forest, leaving predators like wolves to search for food closer to human developments in the village of Otanmäki, 50 miles from the site.

大面积树木的砍伐摧毁了森林中的野生动物栖息地，导致狼等掠食者不得不前往距离现场 50 英里的奥坦迈基村，在更靠近人类居住区的地方觅食。

“We had wolves coming into the village because all the wild animals moved out of the forest,” resident Anni Ranta told the Guardian.

“因为所有的野生动物都搬出了森林，狼群开始进入村庄，”居民安妮·兰塔（Anni Ranta）告诉《卫报》。

“They fled. What worries me about the data centers is also the noise because this is hard rock soil. Even when we are standing here talking,” she added, comparing the sound to a drum.

“它们逃走了。数据中心让我担心的还有噪音，因为这里的地质是坚硬的岩石。即使我们站在这里说话，”她补充道，并将那种声音比作鼓声。

Angry residents called out Google, asking for reprieve from the company to help repay for losses the community sustained from previous tech expansions on the land.

愤怒的居民公开指责谷歌，要求该公司提供补偿，以弥补社区因之前在该土地上进行的科技扩张而遭受的损失。

“It has been done in the wrong way. American style. No sense. No sense at all,” Muhos resident Antti Jakonen told the outlet, calling on the company to help restore the local salmon population that had been destroyed by hydropower years ago.

“这种做法是错误的。这是美式风格。毫无意义。完全没有道理，”穆霍斯居民安蒂·雅科宁（Antti Jakonen）告诉该媒体，他呼吁该公司帮助恢复多年前因水力发电而遭到破坏的当地鲑鱼种群。

Ranta revealed she feared the construction of the data centers would be a perfect target for Russian aggression in the already tense European domain.

兰塔表示，她担心在欧洲局势本已紧张的情况下，这些数据中心的建设会成为俄罗斯侵略的理想目标。

“I don’t want them in Finland at all. I don’t like the whole idea of AI and the world changing and the way it’s changing. It’s going too fast, too soon.”

“我根本不希望它们出现在芬兰。我不喜欢人工智能的整个概念，也不喜欢世界正在发生的变化以及这种变化的方式。这一切发生得太快、太早了。”

Google’s two sites near Muhos and Kajaani, roughly 90 miles apart, are part of its $15 billion investment for AI infrastructure in the Nordic country, which was announced in September.

谷歌在穆霍斯和卡亚尼附近的两个站点相距约 90 英里，这是该公司 9 月份宣布的在北欧国家投资 150 亿美元用于人工智能基础设施建设的一部分。

The Finnish Licensing and Supervision Agency gave Google’s project subsidiary, Tuike Finland Oy, a deadline of Oct. 23 to suspend all operations.

芬兰许可与监管局要求谷歌的项目子公司 Tuike Finland Oy 在 10 月 23 日之前暂停所有运营。

“In the opinion of the Finnish Licensing and Supervision Authority, extensive preparatory measures have already been taken in the project areas based on the currently available reports, such as the removal of trees, the stripping of topsoil, the construction of construction site roads and storage areas, changes to ditches and culverts, and stormwater arrangements,” Tommi Muilu, Head of the Environmental Department, said.

环境部门负责人托米·穆伊卢（Tommi Muilu）表示：“根据目前可获得的报告，芬兰许可与监管局认为，项目区域内已经采取了广泛的准备措施，例如砍伐树木、剥离表土、修建施工道路和仓储区、改造沟渠和涵洞以及雨水处理设施。”

“In our opinion, the measures in question will change the environment and cause impacts, the identification and assessment of which are among the key objectives of the EIA procedure,” Muilu said.

穆伊卢说：“我们认为，这些措施将改变环境并造成影响，而识别和评估这些影响正是环境影响评估（EIA）程序的主要目标之一。”

The removal of the trees led to water sources flowing near the site to turn brown and pollute the streams that feed the Oulujoki River.

树木的砍伐导致流经现场附近的水源变色，并污染了汇入奥卢河（Oulujoki River）的溪流。

Google’s Finnish top chief Antti Järvinen claimed the company believed it had legislative approval to commence the large-scale tree cutting.

谷歌芬兰区负责人安蒂·耶尔维宁（Antti Järvinen）声称，公司认为其已获得法律批准，可以开始大规模砍伐树木。

Järvinen’s explanation was blasted as being “pure arrogance” from the trillion dollar Alphabet company.

耶尔维宁的解释被抨击为这家万亿级 Alphabet 公司“纯粹的傲慢”。

“They bought the vast land area and they just started to cut it, just like that,” she said. “It’s pure arrogance and it’s amazing,” Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (SLL) chair Hanna Halmeenpää said, according to the Guardian.

据《卫报》报道，芬兰自然保护协会（SLL）主席汉娜·哈尔门佩（Hanna Halmeenpää）表示：“他们买下了广阔的土地，然后就这样直接开始砍伐。这纯粹是傲慢，令人震惊。”

Opponents of the data center believe Google had been rushing to construct the complex before legislation in Finland caught up on AI advancements to implement regulations.

数据中心的反对者认为，谷歌一直在抢在芬兰针对人工智能发展的相关法规出台之前，匆忙建设该综合设施。

Järvinen apologized for the destruction as the company said it would work to protect water sources before planting back trees around 321 of the acres.

耶尔维宁为破坏行为道歉，公司表示将致力于保护水源，并计划在约 321 英亩的土地上重新植树。

“I wonder why we have to sacrifice so much of our nature. They give everything away too easily,” conservationist Vesa Hyyryläinen told the outlet.

“我想知道为什么我们必须牺牲这么多自然资源。他们太轻易地放弃了一切，”环保人士维萨·海里莱宁（Vesa Hyyryläinen）告诉该媒体。

In July, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order, banning all large-scale AI data centers from the state, the first such ban in the US.

今年 7 月，纽约州州长凯西·霍楚尔（Kathy Hochul）签署了一项行政命令，禁止在该州建设所有大规模人工智能数据中心，这是美国首个此类禁令。

The executive order paused new permits for so-called “hyperscale” data centers that looked to use the Empire State’s electrical grid for up to a year.

该行政命令暂停了所谓的“超大规模”数据中心的新许可证发放，这些中心计划使用纽约州的电网，禁令有效期最长为一年。

“I don’t want New York to just be first. I want New York to be first in the right way,” Hochul said at the time.

霍楚尔当时表示：“我不希望纽约仅仅是第一个（采取行动的州）。我希望纽约能以正确的方式成为第一。”