Andy Masley
Writes on effective altruism, energy and the arithmetic behind arguments people repeat — including how much electricity a chatbot query actually uses.
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What they believe
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The data-centre backlash is about the buildings themselves, not about what people think of AI.
All this combined with the survey data on Americans’ stated reasons for opposing data centers makes me think that attitudes toward AI are probably a meaningful factor for a minority of people opposed to data centers, but I don’t think the backlash overall is driven by people’s thoughts on AI.
blog.andymasley.comSaid 25 Aug 2026This on korrents
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Data centres mostly take farmland, of which America has too much, rather than housing land, of which it has too little.
This post is about whether data centers waste the land they’re on relative to what they compete with, and my claim is that they mostly don’t compete with things we need more of (housing) and mostly compete with things we need less of (farmland).
blog.andymasley.comSaid 2 May 2026This on korrents
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From one piece I think the data center backlash is mostly about data centers 2 beliefs · blog.andymasley.com
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Their words
I have a long separate post here looking at the evidence we have, and I come away thinking the data center backlash is basically entirely homegrown.
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korrents.com
The data-centre backlash is about the buildings themselves, not about what people think of AI.Their words
All this combined with the survey data on Americans’ stated reasons for opposing data centers makes me think that attitudes toward AI are probably a meaningful factor for a minority of people opposed to data centers, but I don’t think the backlash overall is driven by people’s thoughts on AI.
18 August
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Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 9 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
The data-centre backlash is about the buildings themselves, not about what people think of AI.
All this combined with the survey data on Americans’ stated reasons for opposing data centers makes me think that attitudes toward AI are probably a meaningful factor for a minority of people opposed to data centers, but I don’t think the backlash overall is driven by people’s thoughts on AI.
I think the data center backlash is mostly about data centers Said 25 Aug 2026
The American data-centre backlash is homegrown, not a foreign influence operation.
I have a long separate post here looking at the evidence we have, and I come away thinking the data center backlash is basically entirely homegrown.
I think the data center backlash is mostly about data centers Said 25 Aug 2026
Data centres mostly take farmland, of which America has too much, rather than housing land, of which it has too little.
This post is about whether data centers waste the land they’re on relative to what they compete with, and my claim is that they mostly don’t compete with things we need more of (housing) and mostly compete with things we need less of (farmland).
Data center land use issues are fake Said 2 May 2026
Show 6 more
The water-use objection to AI does not survive arithmetic: skipping one burger a month covers a person's token footprint, and golf uses more water than every data centre together.
So AI consumes approximately 0.04% of America’s freshwater if you include onsite and offsite use, and only 0.008% if you include just the water in data centers.
The AI water issue is fake Said 11 Oct 2025
A data centre earns its county far more tax revenue per gallon of water than a golf course does.
Data centers are so much more efficient with their water that they generate 50x as much tax revenue per unit of water used than golf courses in the county:
The AI water issue is fake Said 11 Oct 2025
The claim that data centres poison the water around them is false.
It’s very common that I’m told that data centers poison the water around them.
The AI water issue is fake Said 11 Oct 2025
Data centres had not raised the average American household's electricity bill as of 2025; inflation and the gas-price shock did.
This is the first conclusion of my deep dive: Data centers have (so far) not affected national average household electricity bills.
Data centers & electricity - part 1: as of 2025 they haven't raised national prices Said 10 Oct 2025
The American states with the fastest electricity load growth saw prices fall rather than rise.
A Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory study found that state-level load growth from 2019 to 2024 — including growth driven by data centers, manufacturing, and electrification — was associated with lower average retail electricity prices, not higher ones.
Data centers & electricity - part 1: as of 2025 they haven't raised national prices Said 10 Oct 2025
That data centres have not raised national electricity prices so far is no promise that they never will.
This is not to say that data centers won’t affect national prices in the future.
Data centers & electricity - part 1: as of 2025 they haven't raised national prices Said 10 Oct 2025
Beliefs others hold too
The water-use objection to AI does not survive arithmetic: skipping one burger a month covers a person's token footprint, and golf uses more water than every data centre together. 2 hold this
So AI consumes approximately 0.04% of America’s freshwater if you include onsite and offsite use, and only 0.008% if you include just the water in data centers.
The AI water issue is fake Said 11 Oct 2025
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Recommends rcmnd
rcmnd What they recommend 40 things — each backed by an exact quote.
Compiled by rcmnd.app, not by them: the quotes are theirs, and each links to the post it was copied from.
Recent
Recommends 80,000 Hours
The best resource on effective altruism https://80000hours.org
blog.andymasley.com 29 Sept 2025
Liked Construction Physics energy cheat sheet
Blog post: Construction Physics has a great "energy cheat sheet" with important high level facts about energy use.
blog.andymasley.com 9 Apr 2025
What others say about Construction Physics energy cheat sheet →
Liked The Quest
Books: The Prize and The Quest by Daniel Yergen. Great popular history/science books on how so much of geopolitics has been determined and motivated by access to energy.
blog.andymasley.com 9 Apr 2025
Show 37 more
Liked The Prize
Books: The Prize and The Quest by Daniel Yergen. Great popular history/science books on how so much of geopolitics has been determined and motivated by access to energy.
blog.andymasley.com 9 Apr 2025
Loved Energy and Civilization
Book: Vaclav Smil's Energy and Civilization (and most of his books). This is an amazing book rewriting all human history as a process of learning to capture and more efficiently use more and more energy, and almost all events being guided by that.
blog.andymasley.com 9 Apr 2025
Loved Sustainable Energy - without the hot air
Book: Sustainable Energy - without the hot air One of the best popular science books on anything. Designed to help you build general energy literacy. This is a holy text for me.
blog.andymasley.com 9 Apr 2025
What others say about Sustainable Energy - without the hot air →
Recommends The Science of Energy
Audio: The Great Courses - The Science of Energy If I could assign everyone one place to start learning about energy from scratch, this would be it.
blog.andymasley.com 9 Apr 2025
Recommends WaveForm Lighting
You can buy more expensive LEDs that have very high CRIs at places like WaveForm Lighting. I feel like this expense is worth it, because you basically don't need to replace LEDs, and this affects how everything I'm around looks for a lot of the day.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Recommends Toyota Corolla
A cheap used car (I drive a 2015 Toyota Corolla) I think it makes sense to spend $15,000 on a car.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Liked Sun Warrior vegan protein powder
Sun Warrior vegan protein powder The least bad tasting of the vegan protein powders I've tried.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Liked Soy Curls
Soy Curls Texture of chicken and absorbs any flavor you cook them in. Very high fiber too.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Recommends Lao Gan Ma chili crisp
Lao Gan Ma chili crisp Makes things taste good.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Recommends Instant Pot
Kitchen Items Instant Pot Makes life easier.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Liked Vitamix blender
Vitamix blender Expensive, but I bought mine in 2017 and I've had zero issues with it after 7 years of use.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Liked Tribit Bluetooth Speaker
Tribit Bluetooth Speaker The best cheap bluetooth speaker I've used.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Loved Marshall Monitor III headphones
You could drop an extra $150 for the latest Sonys, but in my opinion the Marshall Monitor III is perfect and I don't expect to want to upgrade for a long time.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Loved Kobo Elipsa 2E
I used a Kindle for about 7 years but switched to a Kobo because it's much easier to upload a lot of different types of documents to it. I've really loved it. It might be my favorite object that I own.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Loved Logitech MX Master 3S
The Logitech MX Master 3S mouse The most comfortable mouse in the whole world I love this thing.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Loved Obsidian
Obsidian I'm in the cult. I take notes for everything now and it's made me much better at learning. I use it as a flashcard app too with the flashcard plugin.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Recommends Kiwix
Kiwix Download all of Wikipedia. Good for situations where you're stuck without wifi.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Loved Claude
Claude I use Claude every day when I'm trying to learn stuff. If you haven't played around with an LLM much yet, you should definitely at least try. Claude's the best one as of writing.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Recommends Alfred
Computer Apps Alfred Hotkeys will save you.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Liked Everlane bomber jacket
The Everlane bomber jacket If you do like the bomber look, the Everlane bomber is imo the best looking in its price range. It has a great weight and feel to it as well.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Liked Timex Weekender
It's a (relatively) very cheap and good looking option for wearing a watch to signal basic competence. I like the look a lot.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Loved Bonobos Chinos
Bonobos Chinos The best men's pants I've found.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Loved Truth Vegan men's belt
This belt has lasted me for 5 years and still looks brand new. It's more expensive but you end up saving a lot of money because you don't have to replace it.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
Loved L.L.Bean Men's Organic Cotton Waffle Sweater
L.L.Bean Men's Organic Cotton Waffle Sweater, Rollneck Crew My favorite sweater. A compliment machine.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
What others say about L.L.Bean Men's Organic Cotton Waffle Sweater →
Liked Uniqlo Supima cotton crew neck T-shirts
If you would also like this look: Uniqlo Supima cotton crew neck T-shirts Reliably great, especially for the price.
blog.andymasley.com 27 Aug 2024
What others say about Uniqlo Supima cotton crew neck T-shirts →
Liked Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World
Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World Against the Grain
blog.andymasley.com 15 Jun 2024
What others say about Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World →
Liked The Wizard and the Prophet
Politics The Wizard and the Prophet The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
blog.andymasley.com 15 Jun 2024
Liked The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail — but Some Don't
The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail — but Some Don't
blog.andymasley.com 15 Jun 2024
What others say about The Signal and the Noise: Why So Many Predictions Fail — but Some Don't →
Liked The Making of the Atomic Bomb
The Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition
blog.andymasley.com 15 Jun 2024
Liked Chip War: The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology
Tech Chip War: The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology
blog.andymasley.com 15 Jun 2024
What others say about Chip War: The Quest to Dominate the World's Most Critical Technology →
Liked The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
General/other The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined
blog.andymasley.com 15 Jun 2024
What others say about The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined →
Liked Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
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blog.andymasley.com 15 Jun 2024
What others say about Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 →
Liked The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy
Europe The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy
blog.andymasley.com 15 Jun 2024
What others say about The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy →
Liked Albion's Seed
The Robert Caro Books Albion's Seed China The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom
blog.andymasley.com 15 Jun 2024
Liked Battle Cry of Freedom
History America What God Hath Wrought Battlecry of Freedom Freedom From Fear
blog.andymasley.com 15 Jun 2024
Liked What Hath God Wrought
History America What God Hath Wrought Battlecry of Freedom Freedom From Fear
blog.andymasley.com 15 Jun 2024
Loved The 80,000 Hours Podcast
I've been listening to the 80,000 Hours Podcast pretty regularly since 2018 and I'm closing in on having listened to every episode. This is a list of the episodes that are especially great and worth listening to if you're interested in the topic.
blog.andymasley.com 13 Mar 2024
Where they publish
Blog Andy Masley His blog, mostly working through the numbers behind a claim. Has a feed.
Recent
- Some favorite lesser-known books 28 Oct 2026 Which aren't Parfit or Borges or Orwell
- 3 thoughts on effective altruist comms 25 Oct 2026 A poke for more people to try communicating about the high-level ideas
- Thinking about the future of AI shouldn’t feel like choosing from a buffet 20 Oct 2026 The world doesn’t react to the vibes we want to give off
Show 17 more
- The direction I’d like for effective altruism 14 Oct 2026 Planting a flag for the version of EA I want to promote and grow
- Why I believe current AI models can really think and understand - Part 2 of 3 9 Oct 2026 Why computers can in principle produce thinking and understanding
- Why I believe current AI models can really think and understand - Part 1 of 3 30 Sept 2026 How the human mind is different from our conception of it
- What I get out of effective altruism 21 Sept 2026 Part 1: The EA story of the world
- Don’t treat surface-level metaphors about AI as if they describe fundamental reality 19 Sept 2026 Debates about whether AI is a “tool” or whether it’s wrong to “anthropomorphize” it often seem confused about what reality is made of
- AI safety and the data center backlash 1 Sept 2026 Planting a flag for AI safety as a place where we won’t abjectly bullshit you
- I think the data center backlash is mostly about data centers 25 Aug 2026 It’s probably not your ideological thing, or mine. It’s about object-level claims about how data centers impact the communities where they’re built, many of which are wrong.
- Thinking about other industries like we think about data centers shows how impoverished the debate is 18 Aug 2026 Clumsy, arbitrary environmental ideas ignore the incredible complexity of the systems modern society depends on
- I'm very skeptical that China has played a meaningful role in the US data center backlash 8 Aug 2026 The evidence we have is pretty weak
- Toward liberal environmentalism 10 Jul 2026 The underlying normative claim of my environmental writing
- A conversation with my city planner friend Curtis on a recent data center moratorium in Holyoke MA 7 Jul 2026 I recorded a conversation with my friend Curtis who until a few years ago was a city planner in Holyoke MA and had a lot of thoughts on a recent data center moratorium there.
- AI art as curation 3 Jul 2026 Asking whether AI art involves real creativity mostly misses what's interesting about it
- What does it mean for AI to be democratic? 21 Jun 2026 Some pushback on a specific fuzzy idea with some ominous implications
- A plug for a tool I made to show how little most current AI chatbots add to your emissions and water use, with citations 11 Jun 2026 Take this and share it, you don't need to mention me
- A simple trick to fix the data center debate 6 Jun 2026 Remove the status quo bias by asking "would we spend this much in tax revenue to avoid the externalities of the data center?"
- Why I think panic about local impacts of data centers is just a panic 4 Jun 2026 A request for counter examples
- A history of the data center panic - part 1 20 May 2026 Pre-ChatGPT and the creation of common wisdom
Link verified 20 Sept 2026. Recent items update automatically from the channel.
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