On July 22, our speakers explored how artificial intelligence (AI) requires the use of energy-intensive data centers. These facilities are forecasted to significantly increase global electricity demand. Some utilities in states across the country are building more fossil fuel infrastructure to account for this growing electricity demand.
Building out more fossil fuel infrastructure that directly contributes to climate change during a time of already irreversible climate impact raises serious concerns. AI data centers also prompt questions around public and environmental health impacts, particularly in communities already overburdened by climate pollution.
In this webinar, advocates and experts discussed the following questions and more:
- Are AI data centers necessary?
- Who stands to benefit from AI data centers and who is at risk?
- How are AI data centers impacting our utility bills?
- What are the permitting landscape and decision-making processes that enable data centers?
- What protections are available to communities?
In answering these questions, our presenters looked at a data center project in Louisiana and its impacts on local communities.
Our Speakers
- Sophie Loeb, Center for Progressive Reform Policy Analyst
- Bryan Dunning, Center for Progressive Reform Senior Policy Analyst
- KD Minor, Community Solutions Manager, Alliance for Affordable Energy
- Dan Farber, CPR Member Scholar, Sho Sato Professor of Law, and Faculty Director, Center for Law, Energy, & the Environment, UC Berkeley School of Law
A recording of this webinar is available on YouTube.
Additional resources
- Sophie Loeb commentary in Canary Media, “Footing the power bills for AI is anything but smart“
- Dan Farber commentary in Utility Dive, “The AI energy emergency that wasn’t“
- Alliance for Affordable Energy blog post, “Meta’s Mega Data Center Could Strain Louisiana’s Grid — and Entergy Isn’t Prepared“
- Additional resources from the Alliance for Affordable Energy
- Data Center Map
- Data Center Watch report, $64 billion of data center projects have been blocked or delayed amid local opposition
- UC-Riverside and Caltech research paper, “The Unpaid Toll: Quantifying the Public Health Impact of AI“
- IEEE Spectrum article, “We Need to Talk About AI’s Impact on Public Health“
- Eco-Environment and Health commentary, “Global data center expansion and human health: A call for empirical research“
- AI and Google searches explainer video on Instagram
