Thinking on Paper: Technology Moves Fast, Think Slower The Climate Crisis Microsoft Won’t Talk About │ Enabled Emissions
Microsoft says it’s going green. But insiders reveal its AI is powering Big Oil, making fossil fuel extraction faster, cheaper, and bigger than ever.
Microsoft pledged to remove 5 million metric tons of carbon over 15 years. Yet its AI contracts with Exxon and Chevron could add 51 million metric tons every year, 3X its annual footprint, and more than 10x what it promised to cut.
While most debates focus on data centers and electricity use, the hidden story is bigger: AI and fossil fuels are now deeply linked, with consequences for emissions, the climate crisis, and the energy transition.
In this episode of Thinking on Paper, former Microsoft sustainability leaders Holly and Will Alpine — now founders of Enabled Emissions — explain how AI has become essential to oil and gas companies, extending the life of reserves that should be shrinking.
This isn’t the future we were promised. And it’s one we can’t afford to ignore.
Please enjoy the show. And share with a curious friend.
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LINKS & RESOURCES
- Microsoft's Commitment to Sustainability
- Exxon & Microsoft partnership press release
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Stats on AI and Oil Production:
🛢️ US oil production: Surged from 5.1 million barrels per day in 2007 to 13.5 million today, largely due to AI-driven extraction.
🛢️ Permian Basin output: Daily oil production tripled in the past decade even as rig counts dropped 46%.
🛢️ Microsoft’s role: Just two AI deals (Exxon + Chevron) could add 51 million metric tons of CO₂ annually—over 300% of Microsoft’s total FY23 emissions.
🛢️ Barrel math: Burning one barrel of oil releases 433 kg of CO₂, and 81% of each barrel is burned.
🛢️ Fossil fuels account for ~90% of global emissions, and AI is being applied across every stage of their lifecycle.
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Quotes From The Show.
“It’s not dramatic to call the impacts of AI right now an existential threat.”
🏭 “AI has transformed oil operations that should be aging out—keeping fossil fuels alive in an era of cheap renewables.”
🏭 “The sustainability movement is running on a treadmill, and AI is turning the knob faster the harder we run.”
🏭 “You can’t call yourself a sustainability leader when you’re helping the largest oil companies on the planet dramatically increase emissions.”
🏭 “Over 100 years, fossil fuels have stayed at 80% of the global energy mix. Despite record renewables, it’s an addition, not a transition.”
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Timestamps
(00:00) The Hidden Climate Cost of AI
(01:44) Why Experts Call AI an Existential Threat
(03:34) How Big Oil Uses AI to Pump More Fossil Fuels
(07:46) Why Two Microsoft Insiders Started Enabled Emissions
(11:14) Inside AI’s Growing Role in the Energy Sector
(13:08) How much CO₂ comes from burning oil, and what does AI add?
(16:17) The Guardrails Needed to Stop AI From Fueling Emissions
(19:34) Microsoft’s Energy Principles: Policy or PR?
(21:58) What are Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions — and why do they matter?
(24:26) How does Big Tech’s AI partnership with Big Oil affect Net Zero?
(29:55) Why do we need international policy to regulate AI in energy?
(32:39) AI for Good vs. AI for Fossil Fuels
(34:14) What should humans be?
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