AI and the Environment: What We Know, What We Do Not, and How to Decide for Yourself

Depending on who you ask, AI is either wrecking the climate or about to fix it. Both can't be the whole story. Abigail Merrill from GrowthUp Partners will lead this interactive panel discussion on AI and the environment. This session brings several perspectives on AI and the environment, and gives you a way to weigh the costs and benefits of your own AI use so you can reach your own view. After this session, you'll be able to: Locate where AI's environmental cost actually sits, and see how small your individual slice is next to the headlines Evaluate a claim critically by asking what was measured, by whom, and what got left out, using the "every prompt uses a bottle of water" headline broken into fact, fiction, and best practices Apply a cost and benefit analysis to your own AI use and to their organization's Leave with a point of view you can defend: where AI earns its cost, where it does not, and where you will use it more deliberately Speakers Abigail Merrill Abigail Merrill is the CEO and Lead AI Consultant of GrowthUP Partners, a Certified AI Practitioner, and a human-centered AI strategist who helps organizations strengthen judgment, team performance, and customer impact through responsible AI integration. A two time founder with more than 15 years of experience in B2B, B2C, and regulated industries, she created AI for ROI™ to move teams from AI experimentation to measurable results, and the AI Personality Assessment™ to surface exactly where AI adoption breaks down on a team before lost resources. She is an active voice on human-centered AI literacy for all and an organizer of the AI for Women events in the RTP area. Dr. Jackson Ewing Jackson Ewing is director of energy and climate policy at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability at Duke University. He holds additional appointments as an adjunct associate professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment, a faculty affiliate with the Duke Center for International Development at the Sanford School of Public Policy and the Duke Asian/Pacific Studies Center, and faculty lead for the Duke Kunshan University International Masters of Environmental Policy program. Ewing’s work seeks to help facilitate energy transitions internationally and in the United States. His current projects focus on international climate finance and just energy transition partnerships, systems-level changes needed to meet net-zero goals in the United States, international carbon pricing and clubs, and US-China climate relations. Ewing has worked in more than 20 countries, and collaborates closely with actors in government, the private sector, civil society, and international organizations. He publishes widely and contributes to radio, television, and print media. Shawn Jones Shawn Jones is a jack-of-all-trades currently serving as Project Entrepreneur-in-Residence at UNC Charlotte; an Operations Enablement & Transformation Advisor to BT2 Energy; and President at E3 Innovations, an energy, environment, and economics consultancy that he formed with his wife and oldest daughter. He additionally volunteers as an entrepreneurship coach for ECON 125 at UNC Chapel Hill and as Audit & Finance Committee Co-Chair for the Alliance for Climate Transition, Board President for the Warbirds Lacrosse Association, and is a City of Durham Racial Equity Commissioner. The youngest of ten kids and the first in his family to attend college, Shawn draws on that experience to help founders and students navigate unfamiliar systems with clarity and confidence. He lives in Durham, NC with his wife Shandra (Dr. J), three kids, and two elderly dogs, Pip and Percy Jackson. Location Raleigh Founded North Street 📍 509 W North St, Raleigh (map) Questions? Learn more about Raleigh-Durham Climate Week plus get answers to your FAQs here: www.raleighdurhamclimateweek.com Partners Raleigh-Durham Climate Week is made possible by an Impact Partner Grant from the City of Raleigh.