Nathan Taft
@nathantaft.bsky.social
he/him | Senior Campaigner at Stand.earth | Words in The Guardian, Grist, Voice of OC, and Medium | Formerly social media for Katie Porter | Tikkun Olam ✡️
Reposted by Nathan Taft
when big tech companies say that AI will save the planet, what kinds of AI are they actually talking about — and what's their proof? i took a look at some great new research from @ketanjoshi.co and talked to other experts about how a lot of this talk is probably bullshit:
Big Tech Says Generative AI Will Save the Planet. It Doesn't Offer Much Proof
A new report finds that of 154 specific claims about how AI will benefit the climate, just a quarter cited academic research. A third included no evidence at all.
www.wired.com
February 18, 2026 at 3:19 PM
when big tech companies say that AI will save the planet, what kinds of AI are they actually talking about — and what's their proof? i took a look at some great new research from @ketanjoshi.co and talked to other experts about how a lot of this talk is probably bullshit:
AI data centers are throwing the fossil fuel industry a lifeline.
"But AI will solve climate change, right?" Wrong.
@stand.earth's new report authored by independent researcher @ketanjoshi.co clearly lays out Big Tech's AI climate hoax. See for yourself here: stand.earth/resources/ai...
"But AI will solve climate change, right?" Wrong.
@stand.earth's new report authored by independent researcher @ketanjoshi.co clearly lays out Big Tech's AI climate hoax. See for yourself here: stand.earth/resources/ai...
February 17, 2026 at 4:01 PM
AI data centers are throwing the fossil fuel industry a lifeline.
"But AI will solve climate change, right?" Wrong.
@stand.earth's new report authored by independent researcher @ketanjoshi.co clearly lays out Big Tech's AI climate hoax. See for yourself here: stand.earth/resources/ai...
"But AI will solve climate change, right?" Wrong.
@stand.earth's new report authored by independent researcher @ketanjoshi.co clearly lays out Big Tech's AI climate hoax. See for yourself here: stand.earth/resources/ai...
Reposted by Nathan Taft
Claims that AI can help fix climate dismissed as greenwashing
Claims that AI can help fix climate dismissed as greenwashing
Industry using ‘diversionary’ tactics, says analyst, as energy-hungry complex functions such as video generation and deep research proliferate
Tech companies are conflating traditional artificial intelligence with generative AI when claiming the energy-hungry technology could help avert climate breakdown, according to a report.
Most claims that AI can help avert climate breakdown refer to machine learning and not the energy-hungry chatbots and image generation tools driving the sector’s explosive growth of gas-guzzling datacentres, the analysis of 154 statements found. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
February 17, 2026 at 5:30 AM
Claims that AI can help fix climate dismissed as greenwashing
Reposted by Nathan Taft
Much of the talk of powering AI data centers with next-gen nuclear & fusion is misdirection.
The sector will be past its hype scaling phase by the time any of those are operating. In the meanwhile, they're largely being powered by new gas plants, which can easily continue operating well past 2050.
The sector will be past its hype scaling phase by the time any of those are operating. In the meanwhile, they're largely being powered by new gas plants, which can easily continue operating well past 2050.
i was actually shocked to see the numbers on new research from Global Energy Monitor on new gas projects in the US: nearly 100 gigawatts of power—enough to power tens of millions of homes—are currently in development explicitly to power data centers. At the end of 2023 that number was 4 gigawatts
Data Centers Are Driving a US Gas Boom
Gas projects in the US pipeline explicitly linked to data centers increased by almost 25 times over the past two years, according to new research from Global Energy Monitor.
www.wired.com
January 29, 2026 at 10:58 PM
Much of the talk of powering AI data centers with next-gen nuclear & fusion is misdirection.
The sector will be past its hype scaling phase by the time any of those are operating. In the meanwhile, they're largely being powered by new gas plants, which can easily continue operating well past 2050.
The sector will be past its hype scaling phase by the time any of those are operating. In the meanwhile, they're largely being powered by new gas plants, which can easily continue operating well past 2050.
Reposted by Nathan Taft
@microsoft.com’s new plan to convince communities to welcome data centers includes groundbreaking new ideas like *checks notes* paying its taxes and electric bills. 🥴 🧵
January 15, 2026 at 9:47 PM
@microsoft.com’s new plan to convince communities to welcome data centers includes groundbreaking new ideas like *checks notes* paying its taxes and electric bills. 🥴 🧵
[sad trombone noises]
www.windowscentral.com/artificial-i...
www.windowscentral.com/artificial-i...
Microsoft has a problem: nobody wants its poor AI products
A new report details how Microsoft has cut some internal goals for AI sales, why? Nobody wants to use its weak products.
www.windowscentral.com
December 10, 2025 at 10:48 PM
[sad trombone noises]
www.windowscentral.com/artificial-i...
www.windowscentral.com/artificial-i...
Not content with just using up precious water resources, some data centers are now poisoning the water that remains.
Even if AI was this amazing, useful, life-changing technology (which, big tech propaganda non-withstanding, it's not) this isn't worth it.
thefern.org/2025/11/the-...
Even if AI was this amazing, useful, life-changing technology (which, big tech propaganda non-withstanding, it's not) this isn't worth it.
thefern.org/2025/11/the-...
‘The precedent is Flint’: How Oregon’s data center boom is supercharging a water crisis | Food and Environment Reporting Network
In the spring of 2022, Jim Doherty kept having the same conversation with folks at the only grocery store in Boardman, his eastern Oregon hometown, or at the grain depot where he picked up food for…
thefern.org
December 4, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Not content with just using up precious water resources, some data centers are now poisoning the water that remains.
Even if AI was this amazing, useful, life-changing technology (which, big tech propaganda non-withstanding, it's not) this isn't worth it.
thefern.org/2025/11/the-...
Even if AI was this amazing, useful, life-changing technology (which, big tech propaganda non-withstanding, it's not) this isn't worth it.
thefern.org/2025/11/the-...
Say it louder for the people in the back (and also remind them of the massive environmental impacts big tech's obsession with AI is having)
www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/...
www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/...
Microsoft's head of AI doesn't understand why people don't like AI, and I don't understand why he doesn't understand because it's pretty obvious
Is it really "mindblowing" that people are skeptical of software that consistently doesn't do the things we're told it can do?
www.pcgamer.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Say it louder for the people in the back (and also remind them of the massive environmental impacts big tech's obsession with AI is having)
www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/...
www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/...
In Toronto? Know folks there? If so, there's an important climate action there that could use your support!
Toronto City Council has gotten cold feet on a green policy for existing buildings that's been in the works for two years..
We have just a few days to turn things around.
Please send a message to bring this key climate policy back!
We have just a few days to turn things around.
Please send a message to bring this key climate policy back!
There's a big hole in Toronto's Climate Plan.
A policy that would tackle the biggest source of pollution and make our homes safer is at risk of being shelved this week 😨
We can prevent that from happening by speaking up right now!
A policy that would tackle the biggest source of pollution and make our homes safer is at risk of being shelved this week 😨
We can prevent that from happening by speaking up right now!
December 2, 2025 at 5:59 PM
In Toronto? Know folks there? If so, there's an important climate action there that could use your support!
So let me get this straight: Old growth trees in Canada are chopped down, shipped to the UK, and burned for electricity.
And the company responsible, Drax, receives millions in green energy subsidies?
Make it make sense. Brilliant research from @stand.earth
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
And the company responsible, Drax, receives millions in green energy subsidies?
Make it make sense. Brilliant research from @stand.earth
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Drax still burning 250-year-old trees sourced from forests in Canada, experts say
Exclusive: report by Stand.earth says subsidiary of power plant received truckloads of whole logs at biomass pellet sites
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:27 AM
So let me get this straight: Old growth trees in Canada are chopped down, shipped to the UK, and burned for electricity.
And the company responsible, Drax, receives millions in green energy subsidies?
Make it make sense. Brilliant research from @stand.earth
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
And the company responsible, Drax, receives millions in green energy subsidies?
Make it make sense. Brilliant research from @stand.earth
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
💩💩💩
No, this isn’t a joke. To offset climate pollution being created by its AI data centers, @microsoft.com is buying more than a billion dollars worth of poop 💩 and burying it.
Maybe just ensure your data centers run on 24/7, local renewable energy instead? 🤷♂️
🗞️ www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...
Maybe just ensure your data centers run on 24/7, local renewable energy instead? 🤷♂️
🗞️ www.tomshardware.com/tech-industr...
November 4, 2025 at 5:46 PM
💩💩💩
Reposted by Nathan Taft
As I am one of the climate scientists he is referring to here - and I am a scientist who decided to dedicate her life to working on climate precisely because of how unjustly it disproportionately impacts the poor and vulnerable - let me clarify my rationale and thoughts below. 🧵
Bill Gates defends contentious climate shift
"I'm glad people are listening," he said, before adding that it was hard to convey "nuanced positions nowadays."
www.axios.com
November 4, 2025 at 5:10 PM
As I am one of the climate scientists he is referring to here - and I am a scientist who decided to dedicate her life to working on climate precisely because of how unjustly it disproportionately impacts the poor and vulnerable - let me clarify my rationale and thoughts below. 🧵
Why is AI suddenly everywhere? The answer may (not) shock you.
AI companies’ race to the top is an environmental race to the bottom.
But what’s it all for? The answer might shock you (not).
Getting our lives, businesses, and economies hooked on AI is all part of the master plan, and the price we pay will be steep.
#GreenSky
But what’s it all for? The answer might shock you (not).
Getting our lives, businesses, and economies hooked on AI is all part of the master plan, and the price we pay will be steep.
#GreenSky
Why is AI Everywhere?
YouTube video by Stand.earth
www.youtube.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Why is AI suddenly everywhere? The answer may (not) shock you.
Having hyperscalers pay for people's home energy efficiency upgrades sounds like a fantasy – but actually makes a lot of sense.
It would free up energy on the grid significantly faster than building new power plants, lower people's energy bills, and reduce climate pollution.
That's a win-win-win.
It would free up energy on the grid significantly faster than building new power plants, lower people's energy bills, and reduce climate pollution.
That's a win-win-win.
October 23, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Having hyperscalers pay for people's home energy efficiency upgrades sounds like a fantasy – but actually makes a lot of sense.
It would free up energy on the grid significantly faster than building new power plants, lower people's energy bills, and reduce climate pollution.
That's a win-win-win.
It would free up energy on the grid significantly faster than building new power plants, lower people's energy bills, and reduce climate pollution.
That's a win-win-win.
Is your bank on the list? 👀
Since 2016, big banks have directly financed over $15 billion to oil and gas operations in the Amazon rainforest — fueling human rights violations, environmental destruction, and climate chaos. 🧵
October 22, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Is your bank on the list? 👀
Reposted by Nathan Taft
1 / Members of Stand's Big Tech campaign kicked off #ClimateWeekNYC over the weekend by rallying as part of a coalition of local and national organizations speaking out against data center pollution as harm. 🧵
Photos c/o Jun-Ting Zhou.
Photos c/o Jun-Ting Zhou.
September 23, 2025 at 6:48 PM
1 / Members of Stand's Big Tech campaign kicked off #ClimateWeekNYC over the weekend by rallying as part of a coalition of local and national organizations speaking out against data center pollution as harm. 🧵
Photos c/o Jun-Ting Zhou.
Photos c/o Jun-Ting Zhou.
I'm a co-author on this report – please check it out 🙏
Our research on Microsoft’s data centers is out and it’s 😬
💡Huge energy demand (as much as New England by 2030!)
⛽️ Fossil fuel reliance (most data centers in states with ≥50% FF grids)
🏫Local impacts (data centers used to justify more gas)
Learn more and take action: stand.earth/microsoft-ai
💡Huge energy demand (as much as New England by 2030!)
⛽️ Fossil fuel reliance (most data centers in states with ≥50% FF grids)
🏫Local impacts (data centers used to justify more gas)
Learn more and take action: stand.earth/microsoft-ai
September 23, 2025 at 5:07 PM
I'm a co-author on this report – please check it out 🙏
He's right. What started as a war of self defense in the wake of the atrocities of Oct 7th has turned into a genocide. It must stop.
www.sanders.senate.gov/op-eds/it-is...
www.sanders.senate.gov/op-eds/it-is...
It Is Genocide » Senator Bernie Sanders
Hamas, a terrorist organization, began this war with its brutal attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages. Israel, as any other country, had a right to defend...
www.sanders.senate.gov
September 18, 2025 at 5:19 PM
He's right. What started as a war of self defense in the wake of the atrocities of Oct 7th has turned into a genocide. It must stop.
www.sanders.senate.gov/op-eds/it-is...
www.sanders.senate.gov/op-eds/it-is...
Reposted by Nathan Taft
What an image
(J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
(J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
August 27, 2025 at 2:31 PM
What an image
(J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
(J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
😬😬😬
Last week, Trump passed a new executive order debuting his so-called “AI Action Plan” — and it’s just as bad as we expected.
Trump's AI Action Plan Explained
YouTube video by Stand.earth
youtube.com
July 31, 2025 at 4:56 PM
😬😬😬
The situation in Gaza is horrific and untenable.
Allow in humanitarian aid.
End the war.
Release the hostages.
And while you're at replace the leadership of both peoples with folks who believe in a future where Palestinians and Israels can live side by side in peace.
Allow in humanitarian aid.
End the war.
Release the hostages.
And while you're at replace the leadership of both peoples with folks who believe in a future where Palestinians and Israels can live side by side in peace.
July 28, 2025 at 6:00 PM
The situation in Gaza is horrific and untenable.
Allow in humanitarian aid.
End the war.
Release the hostages.
And while you're at replace the leadership of both peoples with folks who believe in a future where Palestinians and Israels can live side by side in peace.
Allow in humanitarian aid.
End the war.
Release the hostages.
And while you're at replace the leadership of both peoples with folks who believe in a future where Palestinians and Israels can live side by side in peace.
That big tech companies aren't prioritizing solar+storage for data center buildout is such a big miss on future-proofing that it borders on malpractice
...they know gas, & they're not keeping up; they're using numbers from last year (or earlier) for solar/storage; the LCOE has come down 22% IN ONE YEAR and is still falling that fast.
Also they're not being pushed! It's past time to push, hard.
Also they're not being pushed! It's past time to push, hard.
July 21, 2025 at 7:21 PM
That big tech companies aren't prioritizing solar+storage for data center buildout is such a big miss on future-proofing that it borders on malpractice
Reposted by Nathan Taft
🚨🚨BREAKING: A new Morning Consult poll finds an overwhelming 80% of Prime members want Amazon to take stronger action to cut emissions from its delivery and transportation operations. 🧵
July 8, 2025 at 6:42 PM
🚨🚨BREAKING: A new Morning Consult poll finds an overwhelming 80% of Prime members want Amazon to take stronger action to cut emissions from its delivery and transportation operations. 🧵
