It’s Friday, thanks for sticking with WTTW News during what was a news-packed week.
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(IR_Stone / iStock)
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Patty Wetli: Sorry to be a buzzkill heading into the weekend. But this week, a report came across my desk that helped me understand the cost of technology in a way that hadn’t computed with me before (pardon the pun). So I thought I’d share the existential dread with all of you.
Every movie or TV show you stream, every photo stored in your “cloud,” every time you’ve asked artificial intelligence to concoct an email response, those actions all consume energy. Some more than others: AI is one of the biggest energy hogs, but so is cryptocurrency mining.
The demand on electricity from data centers — which house the computers that store the movies and photos and AI tools — is surging to the point it’s become not only an energy issue, but an environmental one, according to the study “Big data centers, big problems” from the Environment America Research and Policy Center.
Among those “big problems,” per the report:
Intensive computing is increasing the use of fossil fuels as an energy source.
Data centers also guzzle up water, using it to cool systems that heat up from all that computing.
Most people don’t know what data centers or cryptomines are — including the elected officials who approve them — and don’t understand the implications in terms of energy and water use, as well as noise pollution.
Data use and AI are being integrated into our lives at breakneck speed and most of us haven’t had time to consider the ramifications. There are benefits, to be sure, especially in the fields of science and medicine, but there are also harmful uses.
Add the environmental costs: hundreds of acres of forest cut down to make room for new data warehouses, water drained from stressed watersheds, and nuclear power plants — like Three Mile Island, no joke — being pressed back into service.
Next time you hear about a proposal for a data center or quantum computing campus or cryptomine, ask officials what it means for energy and water use. Next time you think about using Chat GPT to generate a text response, ask yourself the same question.
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Mayor Brandon Johnson appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Monday, Jan. 6, 2025. (WTTW News)
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In an exclusive interview with WTTW News, Mayor Brandon Johnson on Thursday brushed off threats from federal officials to jail him for defending the Chicago law that will block police officers from carrying out the mass deportations of undocumented immigrants ordered by President Donald Trump.
Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, set to be the second highest ranking law enforcement official in the U.S. Department of Justice, directed federal prosecutors across the nation on Wednesday to investigate and charge local officials who fail to carry out the administration’s mass deportation agenda.
“We are not going to be intimidated by those acts of terror to radically shift our way of living,” Johnson said. “That’s what individuals who stoke fear into people want to see happen.”
Some backstory:
Federal officials on Tuesday lifted restrictions on two key federal immigration agencies — Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection — that prevented agents from carrying out deportation efforts at sensitive locations, including churches, schools, hospitals, shelters and community centers.
Johnson has repeatedly said he will not allow Chicago police officers to help ICE agents deport undocumented Chicagoans and called for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
“I find it, quite frankly, unconscionable and reprehensible that you have an administration that is dead-set on causing fear and anxiety,” Johnson said. “What we are not going to tolerate and accept is the bulldozing of the federal government, separating families and ripping people apart.”
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Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks to reporters during a Jan. 23, 2025, appearance. (WTTW News)
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In the face of a Trump administration directive to investigate state and local officials who don’t toe the line on the president’s orders on immigration, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he will stand up for law-abiding residents regardless of their legal status.
Some backstory:
That declaration comes as Illinois and other states prevailed at temporarily blocking President Donald Trump’s move to end birthright citizenship. Illinois jumped to join with three other states to sue over Trump’s executive order to deny babies born in the U.S. to a parent without legal status citizenship.
A federal judge on Thursday granted an emergency motion that puts the order on hold for two weeks, based on states like Illinois facing “irreparable injury” like the loss of federal funding should it go into effect.
A quote:
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Back in the Day: January 24, 2020 - Illinois’ First Confirmed Case of COVID-19
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Listen, the pandemic is not fun to look back on. Still, for the purposes of local history at Back in the Day, it’s important to note that five years ago on this date was the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Illinois. As WTTW News reported then, “The patient, a Chicago woman in her 60s, returned to the United States on Jan. 13 from Wuhan, China, where an outbreak of respiratory illness called the novel coronavirus has been ongoing since December 2019, according to the CDC.” It was the second
confirmed infection in the United States. “This is a single travel-associated case, not a local emergency,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, then-commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.
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Outdoor Events and Activities From Patty Wetli
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Every Friday, WTTW News science and nature reporter Patty Wetli gives you the best ways to get outside.
There are loads of different ways to interact with nature — even during January — from active engagement to education to peaceful reflection. Here are some of our picks for this weekend and beyond.
Ice, ice, baby. One of the benefits of the recent cold spell is that the ice is thick enough to harvest at Kline Creek Farm in West Chicago. Swing by this living history farm (circa 1890) and catch the harvest in action as staff use old-school methods to carve out blocks from nearby Timber Lake. Drop in Saturday or Sunday anytime between 10-11:30 a.m. and 1:30-3:30 p.m.; no registration required.
Habitat restoration doesn’t take a winter break. Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves has a slew of workdays scheduled for Saturday, and more helping hands are always welcome. Sites include Illinois Beach State Park in Zion and Middlefork Savanna in Lake Forest.
Need a little zen time? Yoga in the Nature Museum’s butterfly haven might be just the ticket. Classes are Saturdays, 8:30-9:45 a.m. Registration required (and slots fill up well in advance); cost is $24-$30, which includes museum admission.
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Where's your favorite place in Chicago to get a cup of coffee? Tell us why.
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Email DailyChicagoan@wttw.com with your responses and your answers might be published. Here's what you had to
say.
"Prequel! Best capp and bagel!" — Nicholas Patrick
"Dark Matter Star Lounge" — Nicole Cardos, WTTW News video producer
"Rivers and Roads Cafe in Rogers Park. Cute theme and they make their own syrups." — Deena Habbal
"Café con leche in Logan Square, their coffee wakes me up instantly!" — Andrea (@arrghh12)
"Beans and Bagels in Lincoln Square is cute, colorful and fast. Feels like a neighborhood gem!" — Kat Jackson
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Newsletter Producer: Josh Terry
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