From your browser to your phone to your preferred source of news, artificial intelligence is seemingly unavoidable in 2025. However, in the midst of this explosion of activity, what are the hidden costs to this boom? Through conversation with leading experts, we will explore the environmental and energy impacts of AI growth, touching upon historical and future trends.
Caroline O'Donovan covers Amazon for The Washington Post's tech team in San Francisco. She previously covered tech and labor at BuzzFeed News, where her coverage of Amazon's delivery service network won a SABEW award.
Over the past several years, O'Donovan has published numerous articles on the growth of data centers and ongoing battles regarding who will cover the increased energy costs.
Dr. Arman Shehabi is a Staff Scientist in the Energy Analysis and Environmental Impacts Division of the Energy Technologies Area at LBNL. He has over 15 years’ experience measuring and modeling the potential energy, economic, and air pollutant impacts associated with the large-scale adoption of clean energy policy and technologies for buildings and manufacturing, with extensive research focused on the information and communication technology (ICT).
Dr. Shehabi’s research at LBNL applies life-cycle assessments (LCA) methods to explore systems-wide energy, emissions, and materials flows through buildings and industrial sectors. His current work is focused on emerging technologies and industries in the areas of data center energy/water use, electronic waste recycling, building material circularity, and industrial decarbonization.
Megan Wachspress serves as a staff attorney for the Sierra Club, where she uses litigation and policy strategies to advance clean energy. She recently published "Why You - and the Planet - Are Paying for the AI Gold Rush."
Wachspress earned both a Bachelor of Science, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago, a master’s degree from Cambridge, a JD from Yale, and a PhD from Cal Berkeley. She has numerous scholarly publications and has clerked for both the California Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit.
