Climate One · Climate One from The Commonwealth Club

ENCORE: AI’s Power Demands: Do We Really Have the Energy for This?

·1 hr·5 clips

Keyshawn Pearson exposes how XAI's methane gas turbines started polluting Memphis without permits in just weeks.

This episode explores the massive energy and water demands of artificial intelligence, featuring interviews with community activist Keyshawn Pearson on environmental injustice in Memphis and experts Kate Brandt and Irina Raikou on tech sustainability challenges. It examines how AI both exacerbates climate issues through data center growth and offers solutions like efficient routing and emissions reduction.

As heard by us

A measured climate-policy conversation that connects AI growth to real emissions and infrastructure.

Climate One treats AI as a climate story, starting with Ariana Brocious and Kusha Navidar's routine use of transcription and editing tools before widening to the energy use and emissions behind them.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If AI's hidden electricity bill is on your mind, this conversation gets specific fast, tracing the footprint from data centers to the clean-energy push around them.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Climate One