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Earth Day 2026

AI, Data Centers, and the Hidden Environmental Costs

UofM Doctoral Candidate Keanu Heydari discusses AI's environmental impact.Register here: https://www.mfcenter.org/event-details/earth-day-2026-ai-data-centers-and-the-hidden-environmental-costs/form

In partnership with the Michigan Friends Center. Please register at the MFC site to attend: https://www.mfcenter.org/event-details/earth-day-2026-ai-data-centers-and-the-hidden-environmental-costs/form

AI runs on physical infrastructure. Data centers are the industrial backbone of the “cloud,” and their rapid growth is raising concrete local questions about electricity demand, water for cooling, land use, and emissions. In this Earth Day 2026 program, University of Michigan Doctoral Candidate Keanu Heydari offers a clear primer on how AI and data centers are connected, why this infrastructure is expanding, and what communities can ask when new facilities are proposed. The program ends with a community conversation and Q&A. Free and open to the public.

Keanu Heydari is a doctoral candidate in History at the University of Michigan, where he studies modern European history. He recently completed an internship with the Ecology Center, researching data centers and the environmental footprint of AI for a public-facing publication. His ecology-focused work examines the material infrastructure behind everyday digital services and the local questions communities face when energy-intensive facilities are proposed nearby. He also does educational consulting focused on equity-focused teaching and inclusive course design. He is an ordained deacon in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He lives in Ypsilanti.