That argument is similar to saying Electric cars produce less CO2 than ICE ones, yet they produce more CO2 in construction.
The damage that A.I. causes, the real threat of A.I. is environmental impact, and health impact.
I recently signed a petition to ban the construction of two Data Centres within a 10 mile radius of Epping Forest:
"Here is the backend dangers of A.I.
Epping Forest in the UK is under threat so I signed the petition that no data centre be built within a 10 mile radius of Epping Forest.
I used data provided by the petition starter in an email sent to the Secretary of State. It makes for devastating reading:
"Much of the Forest is of national and international conservation importance with two-thirds of it being designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). It contains 55,000 ancient trees, more than anywhere else in UK, many dating back over 1000 years. Making them some of the oldest living beings in Europe. Epping Forest is the only place in UK with 4 different sorts of habitat – ancient woodland, heathland, grassland and wetland. Aswell as Iron Age mounds. The Forest is home to 10 specie of bat, all endangered, 28 specie of butterfly, 9 specie of reptile and amphibian and 1,500 specie of fungi, including the rarest in Europe. Aswell as animals we all know and love – squirrels, deer, muntjac, foxes, rabbits, owls and many other birds of prey.
But that nature is now under serious threat. Two huge, hyperscale AI Data Centres are planned for Epping Forest – North Weald, (planning application EPF/0849/25) and Loughton (planning application EPF/1165/22 + EPF/0388/26)
How the Data Centres will Impact Local Residents
1/ Electricity bills will skyrocket. Look at what is happening in the US and Ireland – some people’s bills have trebled to $600/ month. Data centres used 22% of Ireland's total electricity last year, more than all urban homes combined and increased household bills (The Guardian 28th May 2026).
2/ Residents will have low or no water pressure, see planning application EPF/1165/22 + EPF/0388/26 for Loughton site. They need your drinking water to stay cool, millions of litres of it. Just as Thames Water have told residents to stop using hose pipes! (30th May 2026)
3/ The air will be more polluted. Google underestimated their air pollution projections by 500% re planning application EPF/0849/25 North Weald site. (The Guardian 9th May 2026)
4/ Residents will be exposed to noise pollution, a constant hum, which cannot be contained and travels for miles. This is detrimental to health – cardiovascular disease, hypertension and blood disorders to name a few. (Both planning applications contain a lot of information concerning noise. Neither mention infra sound/ low frequency sound which is below our hearing levels but still has an impact on our bodies)
5/ Exposure to light pollution. Hyperscale facilities require all-night lighting that disrupts the natural (circadian) rhythms of the body, including melatonin production (the hormone that regulates sleep) and sleep-wake cycles.
6/ Anyone living within 6/7 miles of these data centres, will experience an increase in temperature of minimum 3.6°F due to heat dumped into the air – heat islands (Andrea Marinoni, Cambridge University 21st March 2026).
7/ Due to the above, the value of residents homes will plummet.
8/ In the long term, AI will take jobs now and those of future generations.
The Impact on the Forest and all the creatures living there
1/ Noise pollution affects us, but imagine the impact on kites, buzzards and other raptors who’s hearing is 8-10 times more powerful than ours? Squirrels have more than double our hearing capacity as well as low frequency hearing. Deer can detect ultra sonic sounds. Butterflies are sensitive to low pitched noise. Rabbits can hear sounds 2 miles away. Foxes can detect noise far exceeding ours, like a vole rustling over 100 feet away. If you ride or own horses, you will know that horses can hear sound up to 4 km away.
2/ Light pollution disturbs migration patterns and habitat development among birds, insects and butterflies, bats, and other mammals. It disrupts breeding and feeding and daily or seasonal rhythms - chicks hatch before their food source is available.
3/ The increase in temperature, heat island effect, would cover the whole of the forest from North Weald to Loughton and beyond. This will fundamentally alter the microclimate of the forest and have a devastating, detrimental effect on all flora and fauna.
ACTION!
Epping Forest is our Rainforest and urgently needs our protection. It used to cover 230 square miles; we must safeguard the little that is left for future generations. Before it is too late.
There has been no democratic input, no input from the people who will be affected by these data centres.
Why should a handful of unelected Tech oligarchs determine the future of OUR Forest and all who live here? Our communities matter more than corporate greed.
NO Environmental Impact Assessment has been done on any of the planning applications re Alandale Scaffolding Site, Loughton.
Planning Application EPF/0388/26 was objected to by local councillors, local town council, EFDC urban design, EFDC conservation and Essex County Council landscape teams and was required to have further public scrutiny and to go before the planning committee. Due to interference from the Government, letter from Lord Stockwood urging EFDC to approve, the planning committee was bypassed and this was approved under officer’s delegated authority.
Natural England rely on information regarding protected specie in the Forest from Local Planning Authority, who are obliged to ensure that protected specie are fully considered and that ecological surveys are carried out where appropriate. This was not done. Specialist environmental and ecological advice should have been sought when determining environmental impacts by development.
Information from the Corporation of London survey 2025:
A rare fungus was discovered in Epping forest. Never seen before in the UK and ONLY found in Epping Forest.
A Spring tail was recorded for the first time in Britain in Epping Forest.
Crane Fly Ctenophora was confirmed for the FIRST time in the Forest.
The Crane fly, False Click Beetles and Stilt Legged Fly are all listed as Rare/ Threatened in the JNCC red data books. Red lists are GLOBALLY recognised way of identifying the threat to EXTINCTION of specie.
The ONLY benefits listed for these Data Centres are jobs and economic. The job figures could not be corroborated by Nscale and no scrutiny was done by the LPA or planning officer regarding the figures provided. Due diligence shows there will be maybe 10% of the jobs quoted, if that. The local economy will not benefit at all, and again no scrutiny was done by either the LPA or the planning officer regarding the true benefit to local people economically. The list of material harm to local people is numerous. Less water, higher electric bills, air, noise, heat and light pollution.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced his intention to be greener than the Greens. May your officiation as secretary of state for housing, communities and local government amplify his sentiment by banning data centres within a 10 mile radius of Epping Forest."