As emerging technologies reshape our world, policymakers face an urgent challenge: how to promote innovation while safeguarding our environment. School of Public Policy student Megan Hook’s passion for sustainability began early, through hands-on conservation efforts in her community. With both parents working in big data, Hook also gained an early appreciation for how technology shapes the way we use and conserve resources.
Now, as a junior studying public policy and technology, Hook is focused on one of the biggest challenges of our time: making artificial intelligence (AI) more sustainable. She explores the environmental impact of data centers and the importance of policy that facilitates AI growth while mitigating harm.
Data centers, which store and process the world’s information, have seen their water and energy needs soar in the last five years with the rise of AI. Many policymakers are still catching up to the pace of technological change and are looking to young minds ready to create innovative, sustainable solutions.
In her Foundations of Public Policy class, Hook found the perfect opportunity to bring her environmental and technology interests together. She analyzed the rapid expansion of data centers and the policies needed to manage them responsibly. Her studies took on new urgency this fall after a major Amazon Web Services outage disrupted operations across industries, exposing vulnerabilities in global cloud infrastructure and highlighting the need for more resilient, sustainable systems.
My class gave me an opportunity to explore effective policy solutions that consider the concerns of activist groups and people who live in communities where data centers are going up.Megan Hook
“My class gave me an opportunity to explore effective policy solutions that consider the concerns of activist groups and people who live in communities where data centers are going up,” said Hook. “It also helped me understand the goals of large companies developing these projects.”
Hook envisions a future where innovation and environmental responsibility go hand in hand. Her proposed strategies include requiring data centers to use renewable energy, recycling cooling water and incentivizing companies that invest in clean energy. She also advocates for government investment in renewable technology research, scholarships in sustainability fields and policies that reward companies adopting eco-friendly practices.
In the future, Hook hopes to help researchers, policymakers and technology leaders collaborate to make the tech industry more sustainable. “I’d love to help people and groups studying the dynamic effects of existing data centers and AI factories connect with tech companies looking for sustainable, innovative ideas and contributors,” she said.
