Scaling Laws: Identifying the Myths and Facts of AI's Environmental Impact with Gavin McCormick
The Lawfare Podcast
The Lawfare Institute
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 1 May 2026
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of Scaling Laws, we explore how the "black box" of global greenhouse gas emissions is being cracked open by artificial intelligence and satellite imagery. Kevin Frazier is joined by Gavin McCormick, who leads Watt Time and ClimateTrace, a global coalition that has revolutionized the process of identifying and quantifying emissions. For decades, climate policy has relied on self-reported data from nations and corporations—a system prone to gaps and "greenwashing." McCormick’s work leverages machine learning to monitor every major source of emissions on Earth in near real-time. They discuss the legal implications of "radical transparency," how AI-driven data can be used to enforce regulations and measure claims, and the myths and facts of AI’s environmental consequences.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the Lawfare Podcast. I'm Alan Rosenstein, Associate Professor of Law at the University of |
| 0:06.7 | Minnesota, and a senior editor and research director at Lawfare. Today we're bringing you something |
| 0:11.6 | a little different, an episode from our new podcast series, Scaling Laws. It's a creation of |
| 0:16.8 | Lawfare and the University of Texas School of Law, where we're tackling the most important |
| 0:21.0 | AI and policy questions, from new legislation on Capitol Hill to the latest breakthroughs |
| 0:25.8 | that are happening in the labs. We cut through the hype to get you up to speed on the rules, |
| 0:30.3 | standards, and ideas shaping the future of this pivotal technology. If you enjoy this episode, |
| 0:35.6 | you can find and subscribe to scaling laws wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on X in Blue Sky. |
| 0:40.8 | Thanks for listening. |
| 0:45.7 | When the AI overlords take over, what are you most excited about? |
| 0:53.5 | It's not crazy. |
| 0:55.1 | It's just smart. |
| 0:56.2 | And just this year in the first six months, there have been something like a thousand laws. |
| 1:00.6 | Who's actually building the scaffolding around how it's going to work, how everyday folks are going to use it? |
| 1:05.7 | AI only works if society lets it work. |
| 1:08.5 | There are so many questions have to be figured out and... |
| 1:11.9 | Nobody came to my bonus class. |
| 1:13.4 | Let's enforce the rules of the road. |
| 1:18.7 | Welcome back to scaling laws. |
| 1:20.5 | The podcast brought to you by Lawfare |
| 1:21.9 | and the University of Texas School of Law |
| 1:23.9 | that explores the intersection of AI, policy, and of course, the law. I'm Kevin Frazier, |
... |
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