Why data center concern is different now

Molly Taft, Senior Writer at Wired, joins us to talk datacenters, AI, US power infrastructure, and big energy. You've almost definitely read her work, especially if you live in the US. This episode absolutely ROCKS and is maybe the most grounded and realistic assessment of the role that all of those above forces play together in our social and political moment. 

A couple really relevant pieces, including some very very recent pieces.
https://www.wired.com/story/a-new-google-funded-data-center-will-be-powered-by-a-massive-gas-plant/
https://www.wired.com/story/senators-demand-to-know-how-much-energy-data-centers-use/
https://www.wired.com/story/new-bernie-sanders-ai-safety-bill-would-halt-data-center-construction/
https://www.wired.com/story/karen-hao-empire-of-ai-water-use-statistics/ 
https://www.wired.com/story/data-centers-are-driving-a-us-gas-boom/
https://www.wired.com/story/trump-energy-industry-ai-fossil-fuels-pittsburgh-summit/
https://www.wired.com/story/ai-carbon-emissions-energy-unknown-mystery-research/

Seriously, like, this is the only person I've found to be consistently trustworthy with respect to the intersection of energy reporting and tech. Follow her on X: https://x.com/mollytaft. 

She also reccomends a few other pieces that we touch on a little bit: 
Tina Nguyen's recent piece on the Pro-Human Declaration (right-wing populism X AI backlash) https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/888841/pro-human-ai-declaration-fli

Gaby del Valle on the forefront of environmentalism and the right: https://harpers.org/archive/2026/04/state-of-nature-gaby-del-valle-acc-conservative-environmentalism/

Anti-renewable energy protests and anti-data center movements: https://heatmap.news/plus/the-fight/spotlight/data-centers-renewables-opposition