Poll: 53% of Americans Worried About AI's Footprint

As the United States rapidly builds massive data centers to power artificial intelligence development, a growing majority of Americans say they're genuinely worried about the environmental consequences, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, covered by Al Jazeera.

The scale of this shift over just one year is genuinely notable. About 53% of Americans now say they are "extremely" or "very" concerned about AI's environmental impacts, up sharply from 41% just a year earlier, according to the poll's findings, cited in AP's own reporting on the results. That worry now exceeds concern about other established, environmentally significant industries, with only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults expressing comparable concern about the environmental impact of meat production or air travel.

This rising concern tracks directly against real, documented growth in AI's physical infrastructure footprint. Electricity consumption from data centers is set to more than double globally by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency, and a recent United Nations University report found data centers' environmental footprint already rivals some of the world's largest countries, with that footprint expected to grow rapidly as AI adoption continues expanding.

Key Findings From the AP-NORC/Energy Policy Institute Poll

While Democrats are driving much of the year-over-year increase in concern, this issue reveals a genuinely notable pattern of bipartisan overlap compared to most polarized topics. A separate 2025 EPIC poll had already found AI represented the area of closest agreement between Democrats and Republicans among all industries surveyed, just a 13-point gap, compared to far wider partisan splits on other environmental concerns. This connects directly to the broader bipartisan AI backlash pattern we've tracked closely this month, including Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon sharing a stage at the Pro-Human Assembly to push Congress toward AI guardrails and Leading the Future, the pro-AI super PAC preparing for a genuinely bipartisan data center backlash fight.

AP's reporting captured this tension through Eriech Tapia, a 30-year-old Republican from Arlington, Virginia, who described driving past a rapidly expanding cluster of data centers near his home. "It was interesting to see how many were going up," Tapia said, according to AP's reporting. He acknowledged the facilities provide valuable computing power that helps keep the U.S. competitive globally, but said he also genuinely worries about how much electricity they consume, a tension that captures exactly the split many Americans across the political spectrum appear to be navigating simultaneously.

Michael Greenstone, who directs the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute and collaborated on the survey, offered a genuinely candid framing of what this moment represents. "We're undertaking a massive experiment in real time, and I don't think there'll be any putting the milk back in the bottle. Change is scary, and I think some of that is being reflected here," Greenstone said, according to AP's reporting, a comment that captures the survey's broader finding: the anxiety showing up in these numbers isn't purely about AI's capability or job displacement, it's specifically about the physical, environmental consequences of the infrastructure powering it.

This poll is worth understanding for any business planning AI infrastructure investment or evaluating public communications strategy around data centers specifically, since it confirms environmental concern has moved from a niche activist talking point into genuine, majority mainstream sentiment that cuts across party lines more than most contested issues.

For businesses in AI infrastructure, real estate development, or utilities specifically, this data reinforces the value of proactively addressing energy sourcing and environmental impact in any public-facing project communications, rather than treating environmental concern as a fringe objection likely to fade with time.

How many Americans are concerned about AI's environmental impact?
About 53% of Americans say they are "extremely" or "very" concerned about AI's environmental impacts, according to a new AP-NORC and Energy Policy Institute poll, up from 41% a year earlier.

Is concern about AI's environmental impact higher than concern about other industries?
Yes. The poll found Americans are more worried about AI's environmental impact than other established, environmentally significant industries, with only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults expressing comparable concern about meat production or air travel.

Is this concern split along political party lines?
Partially. Democrats are driving much of the recent increase in concern, with about two-thirds highly concerned compared to roughly 40% of Republicans, but AI's environmental impact remains one of the more bipartisan-leaning concerns compared to other environmental issues surveyed.

A new AP-NORC and Energy Policy Institute poll found 53% of Americans are now "extremely" or "very" concerned about AI's environmental impact, up from 41% a year earlier, exceeding concern about other polluting industries like meat production and air travel. The rising alarm tracks against real infrastructure growth, with the International Energy Agency projecting data center electricity consumption will more than double globally by 2030. While Democrats are driving much of the increase, concern about AI's environmental footprint remains one of the more bipartisan-leaning issues in the poll, reflecting a broader pattern of AI backlash crossing party lines that has emerged across multiple fronts this year.