It seemed like everything was happening last week! AOC and Sanders introduced the House version of the AI Data Center Moratorium Act on June 24. For real readers, you will remember that they first started talking about this during March 2026 and it has evolved.

NVIDIA, Amazon, and Microsoft all put out PSAs about their data centers consuming far less water compared to earlier ones that they had built years ago! Some colleagues on LinkedIn were expressing skepticism about the accuracy of said numbers, but begrudgingly applauded the overall trend of using less water if we are to build all this data center infrastructure.

Oh, by the way, did you know that 79%, of all data centers globally are exposed to acute risk from severe, climate-induced weather events? That was according to a report put out by First Street. Makes sense considering everyone is racing to build this data center infrastructure out with speed to power.

Chau 👋,

Nate

Why PJM is Looking at the Texas Grid (AI & Energy): Josephus Allmond, Virginia's chief energy officer, on what PJM could borrow from ERCOT's market design, and why one Virginia cost rule blocks the fixes the region is considering.

Inside Trump's Energy Affordability Strategy with DOE's Alex Fitzsimmons (AI & Energy): Political Climate sits down with Associate Deputy Secretary of Energy Alex Fitzsimmons to discuss the administration's energy affordability agenda and the strategy to stabilize, optimize, and grow the energy system amid the race to add new power capacity.

When Your New Neighbor is a Data Center (AI & Data Centers/Hardware): Since data center development isn't slowing down, what policies or creative strategies can lessen the impacts for local communities and ratepayers?

The Energy Cost of AI and Data Centers (AI & Energy): A study of the spillover effects of rising AI and data center electricity demand on the rest of the U.S. economy over the next decade, using a multi-region spatial equilibrium model to quantify effects on electricity prices, output in non-data-center sectors, and emissions. Authors: Darmouni et al.

Sustainable Computing: State-of-the-Art and Future Outlook (AI & Data Centers/Hardware/Model): An overview of the technologies and practices that define sustainable computing, which aims for zero environmental impact, and the interdependencies that enable holistic solutions to the ICT sector's sustainability challenges. Authors: Devi et al. Journal: ACM Minigraphs.

Flexible Data Centers Reduce Power System Costs but Can Increase Emissions (AI & Data Centers/Hardware/Model): Data centers' temporal flexibility, the ability to shift workloads over time, offers a source of demand-side flexibility, but findings highlight the importance of aligning that flexibility with renewable deployment and regional conditions. Authors: Senga et al. Journal: iScience.

Demonstrating the Local Benefits of AI Infrastructure in Wisconsin (AI & Economic Transformation): A look at the local economic benefits of AI infrastructure investment in Wisconsin. Authoring Body: Microsoft/Mandala.

Cooling the Cloud: Water Utilities in a Data-Driven World (AI & Water Resources): How the data center boom is reshaping the work of water utilities. Authoring Body: American Water Works Association.

Electricity Affordability and Load Growth: Diagnosing and Fixing the Problem (AI & Energy): A commentary arguing that rising electricity prices are driven by structural features of the power system rather than demand growth alone. Authoring Body: Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia

Data Center ASMR: Real Sounds From Inside Nebius (AI & Multiple Applications): The first in a series of ASMR tracks made entirely from the sounds of data centers, offices, and hardware R&D, capturing what these machines and the people running them actually sound like.

The Water Reality In World's Largest Data Center Market (AI & Water/Ocean Resources): Loudoun Water offers a rare look at what happens when a utility has decades of experience serving the data center industry, with leaders discussing water impacts, management processes, and advice for other systems.

How Inference Layer Innovations Are Changing AI Efficiency and Costs | Sudip Roy Adaption Labs (AI & Multiple Applications): How AI is shifting from traditional training to inference-focused efficiencies, and how companies like Adaptation Labs are building adaptive, full-stack AI solutions that democratize control across industries.

Seabound (AI & Infrastructure): Seabound builds carbon capture equipment for large cargo ships, sitting adjacent to a ship's funnel and trapping up to 95% of the CO2 from its exhaust, with a possible move into data center carbon capture. Location: United Kingdom.

Kayrros (AI & Environment): Kayrros uses AI and geoanalytics to turn raw satellite data into actionable insights on energy, supply chains, physical risks, nature, and the environment for businesses and governments. Location: Europe.

Entalpic (AI & Circular Economy): Entalpic is an AI-driven materials discovery company, fostering greener and smarter industrial processes. Location: Europe.

Open Sustainable Technology (AI & Sustainability): A directory and analysis of the open source ecosystem in the areas of climate change, sustainable energy, biodiversity, and natural resources. Price: FREE.

AI Playbook for Sustainability Reporting (AI & Sustainability): A tangible toolkit based on Google's internal experimentation to help organizations streamline and enhance their sustainability reporting processes with AI. Price: FREE.

Climate Change AI Virtual Summer School 2026 (AI & Workforce Development): The fourth Climate Change AI Virtual Summer School, running July 19 to August 22, 2026, with a summer cohort now open for enrollment. Price: PAID.

If you have resources that you wish to submit to the AI & Environment Resource Hub, fill out the Google Form! Thank you for suggesting resources to add to the Resource Hub. 🙃

This is for all of the LinkedIn hustle and tech bros and gals that are trying to make it to the next level in the data center world! Your own founder starter pack (courtesy of me lol):

Thanks for reading the 47th issue of The Climate Code! It means a lot to me and we have more coming in the future, so definitely stick around! 💚

Nate

P.S.

New here? Check out the AI & Environment Resource Hub if you have no idea what it is. 😆