Discussion
Get all the details from the author, Ketan Joshi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOlt-PYcnLk
Thevideo is not so much a TL;DR as to whet your appetite to read the report:
https://mastodon.social/@ketanjoshi.co@ketanjoshi.co/116083027439799872
"Across Europe, irrigation consistently emerges as the largest contributor to freshwater appropriation, particularly in already stressed river basins. Livestock water demand frequently coincides with irrigation, amplifying local pressure.
Energy production is also appropriating large volumes of water.
Climate change will sharpen existing vulnerabilities, making anticipatory action increasingly important."
And here come the data centers.
Families won’t see relief from rising electricity prices anytime soon, as demand from artificial intelligence data centers soars while power supply grows slowly, according to Goldman Sachs.
Here's how much electricity prices jumped in 2025
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/12/electricity-price-data-center-ai-inflation-goldman.html
How Can AI Address Climate Justice When Women’s Voices Are Silenced?
"Despite their central role in society, women face persistent barriers to digital access and representation: [They are] underrepresed in AI training data, system design and governance processes.
Fctors such as class, race, caste, migration status, geography and age further reveal how AI-driven climate governance aligns technological power with social privilege, reinforcing existing inequalities."
"Datacentre developers are facing pressure to reveal whether their projects will increase the UK’s net greenhouse gas emissions, amid concerns the sites could double national electricity demand."
Why are electricity prices rising so much?
"It's data centers and it's nothing but data centers. And the people who start trying to muddy the waters with EVs and electrification, that's not true. Absolutely not true. There's no data to support it. It's it's not true. Our data shows that it's data centers"
https://mastodon.social/@ketanjoshi.co@bsky.brid.gy/116165529703364314
"A coalition of energy and environment groups, including the Clean Energy Council, Electrical Trades Union, Australian Conservation Foundation and Climate Energy Finance, proposed a set of “public interest principles for datacentres” that include investing in new renewable energy and using water responsibly."
"The report, The Urgent Case Against Data Centers, methodically outlines the need for a moratorium on new data center construction nationwide, so that local, state and federal leaders can take the time needed to thoroughly and adequately evaluate these and other inherent harms and threats from this aggressive, profit-driven industry."
"Despite Big Tech’s best efforts to offset its emissions, many researchers are critical about whether carbon credits will actually help companies to achieve this. A 2025 review paper, analysing 25 years of evidence, showed that failure of carbon offsets to cut planet-heating pollution was “not due to a few bad apples” but rather was owing to deep-seated systemic problems that gradual change to the system will not fix."
Australia has set new expectations for AI data centres – they should serve the public
"The message is simple: if companies want faster federal approvals, they must show their projects are in Australia’s national interest, support the clean energy shift, use water responsibly, create local jobs, and build local capability.
They’re now being treated as major infrastructure, with real effects on the power grid, water systems, land use and local communities."
A lot of ground gets covered in this eye-opening conversation on "AI" with Tinmit Gebru and Karen Hao
"The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma just became the first Indigenous nation to officially ban data center construction from lands under its jurisdiction.
After a tech startup approached Seminole leaders asking to allow a data center on their lands, the Tribal Council voted 24 to 0 to enact a moratorium."
"Our fight is just one small piece of a collective puzzle."
https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/seminole-nation-data-centers
"JPMorgan Chase & Co. says aging, run-down grid infrastructure now risks undermining security goals, with everything from extreme weather to cyberattacks posing a growing threat.
In the US, grid investment is expected to hit roughly $1 trillion through 2035. By comparison, the figure is around $1.1 trillion for Europe and roughly $2.6 trillion for Asia Pacific, with China representing more than two-thirds of all grid investment in the region."
"The surrounding areas of more than 6,000 data centers worldwide saw an average increased land temperature of about 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 F. In certain cases, nearby temperatures increased 9 C, or 16.4 F. Researchers calculated these heat islands could be felt about 6.2 miles away from facilities, impacting up to 343 million people globally."
https://fortune.com/2026/04/01/ai-data-centers-heat-island-hyperscalers/
Google to tap into gas plant for AI datacenter in sharp turn from climate goals
"Texas power plant would emit 4.5m tons of carbon dioxide per year, more than that of the entire city of San Francisco.
The move is part of an ongoing about-face for the tech giant, which once pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030 and has long been seen as a pioneer in clean energy."
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/02/google-ai-datacenter
"Data centers are the largest driver of load growth in the US."
https://www.wri.org/insights/clean-energy-progress-united-states
"Nearly 20 million households nationwide are behind on their utility bills. If gas prices continue to climb, more families will have to make difficult trade-offs every month just to keep the lights on.
To make matters worse, instead of addressing the cost-of-living crisis, Congress scaled back the very policies designed to expand domestic energy supply, modernize the grid, and lower bills, despite energy prices being a bipartisan priority."
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/need-better-energy-road-map
RE: https://vmst.io/@jalefkowit/116398487960120393
Interesting:
Decisions on data centers have election consequences.
https://mastodon.social/@jalefkowit@vmst.io/116398488073552426
BYOG, not only for data centers
"Georgia’s largest utility, Georgia Power, is launching a new Customer-Identified Resource program that [lets] companies propose and fund their own clean energy projects. It passed with bipartisan support from the state’s public service commissioners on April 7, and is expected to open by this summer."
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