Data centers use far less water than other industries and everyday activities. AI accounts for just 0.008% of America's freshwater consumption while supporting hundreds of millions of daily users, generating massive tax revenue per gallon that far exceeds golf courses or steel production. The panic over AI water use is manufactured clickbait that ignores basic math and scale.
AI systems will match New York City's entire carbon footprint by 2025 and consume water equivalent to the global bottled water market's annual consumption. Data centers generate emissions comparable to driving 300 billion miles while corporations hide the true environmental costs through inadequate disclosure. Building more AI infrastructure without transparency amounts to environmental recklessness.
© 2025 Improve the News Foundation.
All rights reserved.
Version 6.19.1