The Invisible Equation: Why We Fear Data Centers but Ignore Our Closets

The loudest outrage currently gathers around energy use. Data centers consumed roughly 415 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity globally in 2024 about 1.5% of the world’s power. Projections suggest this could climb to around 945 TWh by 2030. Even Microsoft’s Satya Nadella has argued that AI must “earn social permission” to consume that much energy. The emotional verdict is often swift and absolute: AI is uniquely catastrophic for the planet.

Emotional intelligence asks us to add one small but important phrase to support the understanding of how the headlines make us feel: compared to what?

Consider two other sectors that rarely inspire the same moral intensity. Food waste accounts for an estimated 8–10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, nearly five times aviation’s total footprint. Fashion is responsible for roughly 10% of global emissions, with around 85% of textiles discarded annually, many worn fewer than ten times. We have quietly normalized massive, compounding waste in food and fashion while treating AI’s energy use as the singular villain. Our sense of crisis is selective.