A $475 Billion Investment In AI Is Crippling Environment

By Douglas McIntyre  •  August 10, 2025
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Depending on who is counting, investments in AI data centers this year will be between $350 billion and $475 billion. Regardless of the number, these data centers will eat massive amounts of electricity. Renewables are not enough to satisfy demand. That means a certain return to coal and oil, which could last for decades. 

The size of the data centers has become colossal. Elon Musk plans to build a 1 million square foot facility near Memphis. Microsoft, Alphabet, OpenIA, and Amazon plan similar facilities. And there are a dozen companies that want to compete with these leaders. 

Global Temperature Goals

Among the worst side effects of the energy required by these large data centers is the amount of greenhouse gas emissions they create. This is a time when the 1.5 degree C global warming bright line has already been breached. There was some hope that greenhouse gas emissions could be throttled back. AI, air conditioning in a warming world, and the rise of EVs alone will kill the chance.

It would be good to assume that AI might grow slowly and be brought online at a pace which is equivalent to the installation of renewable energy facilities. The face of the matter is that new green facilities cannot, in some cases, be attached to the largest girds immediately.

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