WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Brie Bella has shared her concerns about the environmental impact of artificial intelligence data centers, particularly as they continue expanding across the United States.
In a video published to her YouTube channel, Brie discussed proposals involving public lands and argued that the rapid growth of AI infrastructure could have serious consequences for water resources, energy consumption, and local communities.
“AI data centers harm the environment by consuming large amounts of electricity and fresh water. Their demand increases greenhouse gas emissions, depletes local water supplies, and strains community power grids. I wanted to put some numbers to this issue to really put it in perspective and paint the bigger picture.”
Brie cited estimates regarding the amount of water and electricity consumed by large data centers.
“Large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons per day of fresh water, equivalent to the water use of a town populated by 10,000 to 50,000 people. Only 3% of Earth’s water is fresh water, and only 0.5% of all water is accessible and safe for human consumption. Fresh water is critical for survival. On average, a human being can live without water for only three days. Increasing drought and water shortages are reducing water availability.”
She also warned that increasing demand for AI infrastructure could place additional strain on natural resources and power grids.
“Meanwhile, data center developers are increasingly tapping into surface and underground aquifers to cool their facilities. Additionally, a single modern AI data center can use as much power as 100,000 homes. Many of the larger ones now being built are expected to consume up to 20 times that amount. That’s almost unfathomable.”
Brie concluded by urging viewers to consider the long-term environmental implications.
“If the damage to our communities, our environment, and the plants and animals that live among us doesn’t get you to care, the rise in power bills across the US—with Americans paying almost 10% more for electricity on average this past year alone—should make you care. That is only going to get worse for us as more data centers take over public lands and wildlife sanctuaries across the nation. We can live without AI. Trust me, we can live without it, but we can’t live without fresh water.”
