US COVERAGE OF OUR STUDIES

Alaska Dispatch News - The growing marijuana industry faces a serious problem: its huge energy footprint

Albuquerque Journal - As marijuana growing expands, power demands tax US electricity grids

AlterNet - Indoor or outside: What’s the best way to grow weed? (March 7, 2017)

Asparagus - Canada’s keen on cannabis, but this green rush isn’t so green (December 6, 2018)

The Astorian - Power needs of pot (April 26, 2016)

The Atlantic

• How much electricity does indoor-grown pot use?

• Marijuana growing consumes 1 percent of nation's energy

Baltimore Sun 

• Clean energy standards must apply to cannabis, too (September 17, 2022)

• National Marijuana Day: Not as green as you might think (April 19, 2011)

Bay Citizen - Study: one joint equals two pounds of greenhouse gases 

Bay Guardian

• Cool, efficient plasma lighting technology comes online (August 16, 2011)

• Green Buds: Environmental cost of growing indoors is luring the marijuana industry back into the sunshine (August 16, 2011)

Bellingham Herald - A new kind of family farm – growing pot outdoors in Washington

Bend Bulletin - Marijuana’s problem: it’s not so green

Benzinga - Eco Alert: Cannabis Cultivation's Unseen Toll On Fragile Ecosystems, Here's What We Can Do (October 18, 2023) [PDF]

Berkeley Daily Planet - City Council fails to pass sustainable medical marijuana ordinance

Bloomberg 

• Marijuana growing has to change its energy-hogging ways

• As Pot-Growing Expands, Power Demands Tax U.S. Electricity Grids

• Legal-weed buzz fades for utilities (March 30, 2017)

Boston Business Journal - Up in smoke 

Boulder Weekly

• Elephant in the grow house (April 2, 2018)

• The great indoors

California Watch - Pot growers burn through energy 

Cannabis Business Times - State of the Cannabis lighting market

Cannabisculture - How can we keep weed green? Marijuana warehouses are a massive energy suck

Cannabisfantastic.com - The carbon footprint of Cannabis

Cantech Letter - Cannabis grow ops use more electricity than the mining industry in Canada (November 28, 2016)

Carnegie-Knight News21 - Marijuana and Energy (video)

CBS Television - Smoke on this: marijuana growers use one percent of U.S. electricity supply 

Chicago Sun Times - Cannabis grows best in the sunshine

Chicago Tribune - National Marijuana Day: not as green as you might think 

Columbus Dispatch - Indoor marijuana's carbon footprint is extra large 

Consumer Reports - Growing marijuana gets you high ... energy costs, study finds

Cortez Journal - Pot growers pressure the grid

Culture - In a brand new light

CV Independent - Pot Power: Marijuana Puts a Huge Energy Demand on the Grid—but Legalization May Lessen the Burden

The Daily Beast - How green is your green? Pot’s terrible environmental record

Daily Californian - Growing marijuana indoors could damage environment 

Daily Kos - The carbon footprint of Cannabis 

Datacenter Dynamics - Why not diversify into dope?

Denver Business Journal - Growing pot isn’t green. Is it time for LEED weed?

Denver Post

• New study reveals massive energy consumption of pot industry

• Marijuana-growing spikes Denver electric demand, challenges clean-power plan

• Colorado pot grows used as much energy as 35,000 homes in 2014

• Buzzkill for utilities’ high hopes of legal-weed power surge (March 31, 2017)

Detroit News - As pot-growing expands, electricity demands tax grids

Discovery News – Pot growers not so green

Dope - Weed must learn from LEED (May 10, 2019)

Earth.com -  How the growth of the marijuana industry impacts the environment  (August 22, 2018)

East Oregonian - Power needs of pot industry raise issues with Energy Dept., utilities

EnergyWire - Utilities Struggle to Control Appetites in Energy-hungry Marijuana Industry. (August 8, 2014)

Environment & Energy Publishing - Colorado struggles with marijuana’s huge carbon footprint

EconomiaHoy.mx - Cultivo de marihuana pone a preuba red electrica de Estados Unidos

Energy Manager Today - Cannabis growers reduce energy consumption

Environmentalguru.com - Pot: the hidden power hog

Environmental Leader - Sustainable musings for the New Year

Eurasia Review - The marijuana industry's dirty little secret (May 15, 2009)

Examiner - Legal marijuana used $ 6 billion worth of energy in 2015

Fast Company - Buzzkill of the day: U.S. marijuana industry responsible for $5 billion in energy consumption  

Forbes

• As Congress Inches Closer To Legalizing Cannabis Nationwide, States With A Head Start Warn Of Environmental Complications (September 23, 2020)

• California's Pot Sales are Escalating, Along with Growers' Energy Costs (March 5, 2018)

• New study reveals massive energy consumption of pot industry 

• In The Bay Area, The Farm-To-Table And Legal Cannabis Movements Come Together

Fortune - The booming pot industry is draining the U.S. energy supply

Freakonomics - The $5 billion carbon footprint of indoor marijuana

Ganjapreneur

• Study: An Eighth of Legal Cannabis Has 41lb Carbon Footprint (March 11, 2021)

• Report: Indoor Cannabis Cultivation Has Major Environmental Impact (July 15, 2020)

Global Construction Review - Colorado’s cannabis construction boom

GOOD

• Not so kind: weed growers suck down 1 percent of all U.S. electricity  (here)

• Making the pot business a little greener (here)

GoodPlanet Info - Cultivation of cannabis in the United States is dependent on fossil fuels May 7, 2017 (in French) 

Grand Rapids Press - Report: indoor marijuana growing consumes 1 percent of U.S. electricity 

Green Building Law Update - Indoor marijuana growing accounts for over 1% of all electric consumption in the U.S.

Green Economy Post - Grass is not so green: marijuana has a huge carbon footprint

Green Entrepreneur - An inconvenient truth about indoor gardening (July 1, 2020)

GreenBiz - It’s high time for the cannabis industry to embrace sustainability (July 18, 2022)

GreenReport.it -  Fumare marijuana contribuisce al cambiamento climatico (Smoking marijuana contributes to a changing climate) - January 4, 2018

GreenTechMedia

• Marijuana, top US crop, has a $5B power bill 

• LEDs light up indoor farming and marijuana cultivation

• Marijuana Grow Ops Could Soon Rival Data Center Energy Use (September 27, 2016)

• California Regulators Worry They’re Not Prepared for Energy-Use Surge From Legal Marijuana Growing (March 2, 2017)

Grist.org 

• Climate change kills our buzz, and vice versa 

• Can the pot industry make buds with sustainability?

• Everything you need to know about pot growing and the environment

The Guardian

• Pot is power hungry: why the marijuana industry's energy footprint is growing (The Guardian) - (February 27, 2016)

• Not so green: How the weed industry is a glutton for fossil fuels  (June 20, 2017)

• Why is US energy demand soaring – putting climate goals at risk? (March 21, 2024)

• California comedown: how illicit cannabis farms have left a wilderness where ‘you’re lucky to see a lizard’ (May 30, 2024)

High Country News 

• Cannabis has a carbon problem  (May 30, 2021)

• Pot growers put huge energy demand on the grid (November 25, 2015)

High Times - The big grow debate: which is better indoor or outdoor? (cover story and various articles inside).  Links and de-obfuscation here.

Honolulu Weekly - How green is your pot? 

Huffington Post - Marijuana carbon footprint: indoor pot production uses 1 percent of U.S. electricity, study says.  Second article Cannabis Carbon Footprint: Marijuana Industry’s Environmental Impact

Inlander 

• A greener bud

• Not green enough

International Business Times - How marijuana farms impact the environment

KALW Radio - Connecting the dots

KCBS Radio - Pot growers account for 8 percent of household electricity use in CA

KQED - A cannabis landlord in East Oakland seeks to overturn order to shut down diesel generators (July 28, 2022)

KUOW.org - Indoor pot farms are energy guzzlers, research shows

LA Times HS - Why smoking a blunt contributes to climate change (January 2, 2018)

LA Weekly - Marijuana grown indoors is bad for the environment: could legalizing it change that? 

The Leaf - Legalization must reduce carbon footprint of cannabis

Leafy - How detrimental is indoor cannabis cultivation to the environment?

Marijuana Business Daily

• Cultivation power price tag could reach $11 billion nationwide (December 4, 2015)

• Chart of the week: Breakdown of energy use at a commercial cannabis cultivation site  (January 5, 2015)

Mendocino Country Independent - Measuring energy use for indoor grows

MIT Technology Review - Weed’s chronic energy use becomes a concern

MMJ Daily - The environmental impact of indoor cannabis cultivation (July 15, 2021)

Mother Jones - The landscape-scaring, energy-sucking, wildlife-killing reality of pot farming

Mother Jones - 24 mind-blowing facts about marijuana production in America

Motley Fool

• Will the marijuana industry ever go green? (December 4, 2016)

• Nearly half of all Americans fear this if weed is legalized (October 27, 2017)

Nature - Can cannabis go green? (August 28, 2019)

The Daily - Going green while greening out (April 20, 2021)

The Nation - Is pot-growing bad for the environment?

National Geographic - The energy drain of recreational drugs

Nature - Can cannabis go green? (August 28, 2019)

New Scientist

• Cannabis has a shocking environmental cost – here's how to fix it (October 17, 2023)

• Colorado's legal cannabis farms emit more carbon than its coal mines (March 8, 2021)

New Yorker -  Can green energy power the cannabis boom? (January 27, 2021)

News Tribune - Power and water: will the feds allow it for pot?

New York Times

• Study: pot growers inhale 1% of U.S. electricity, exhale GHGs of 3M cars

• Marijuana growing gobbles electricity, study finds

Next 100 - Pot: the hidden power hog

North Coast Journal

• “Cannabis and carbon” (April 20, 2017)

• "Green your weed" (April 19, 2019)

• "Make Greta Proud" (September 26, 2019)

NPR - Marijuana not so green: study finds growing pot indoors is energy intensive

Oregon Cannabis Connection - Indoor pot: Climate in the balance in November ballot (October 17, 2016)

Philly Inquirer - Pot farms burn $5B of US electricity/year: report

Politico

• An inconvenient truth (about weed) (August 10, 2021)

• As pot growing expands, power demands tax U.S. electricity grid (December 22, 2015)

Portland Mercury - Getting Baked

Portland Press Herald - Did you know marijuana is America’s most energy-intensive crop? (January 15, 2016).

Power - Power Struggle: Cannabis Growers Face High Energy Costs in New Jersey (September 1, 2018)

Press Democrat - North Coast: Pot-growing power grab 

Providence Journal - Marijuana industry, far from green, is a power hog (August 5, 2017)

PV Magazine 

• High time for solar (April 8, 2023)

• Solar-powered cannabis cultivation  April 10, 2023)(

Real-time with Bill Mahr - The mean side of green

Redheaded Blackbelt - Buy only sustainably grown marijuana and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil

Redheaded Blackbelt - Their weed habit causes a Fukoshima worth of power every year.

Richmond Confidential - City council fails to pass sustainable medical marijuana ordinance

Roanoke Times - Editorial: Legal marijuana drives carbon emissions. Here's how to fix that. (March 17, 2021)

Rolling Stone - The Rolling Stone Guide to Legal Pot (April 30, 2018)

Salon - Growing pot indoors is a major environmental problem

San Francisco Business Times - Marijuana causes global warming, uses 1% of U.S. electricity 

San Francisco Chronicle - Pot grow houses eat 8 percent of California's residential electricity use 

San Jose Mercury News - Growing problem: Lightening the carbon footprint of cannabis farms (October 3, 2017)

Seattle Post Intelligencer - Dude, your marijuana grow is sucking up megawatts (NY Times)

Sierra Sun - Opinion: Measure W a ‘dangerous, costly precedent’ for Nevada County

Smithsonian - Growing an Ounce of Pot Indoors Can Emit as Much Carbon as Burning a Full Tank of Gas (March 15, 2021)

Southern California Public Radio - Greener pot: is there such a thing as energy efficient Cannabis? 

Slate - Why is growing pot so energy intensive? (June 10, 2021)

State Journal-Register - Consider the environment as marijuana industry emerges in Illinois

Technology Review - Weed’s chronic energy use becomes a concern

The 420 Times - Indoor marijuana growing accounts for 1% of U.S. energy use

The Week - Marijuana isn't 'green?'

Times Standard - Keeping the lights on: Indoor pot growers skirt high electric bills through discount program for low income

Times Standard - Indoor pot grows carry heavy carbon price; scientist says education is key to lowering carbon footprint of indoor pot grows

Times Union - Beware of recreational marijuana's energy cost (February 9, 2020)

Treehugger.com - Marijuana industry responsible for 1% of US electricity consumption, has $5 billion energy bill

TruthOut - Thinking beyond big Marijuana

Tuscon Citizen - Marijuana causes global warming

Upstart Business Journal - Growing pot isn’t green; is it time for LEED weed?

USA Today - Boom in marijuana industry spurs sustainability concerns

Utilitydrive.com - This is the grid. This is the grid on legalized marijuana. Any questions?

Vice

• Illegal cannabis farms are making the climate crisis worse (June 9, 2021)

• The dirty truth behind Colorado's legal weed growhouses (December 4, 2013)

Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber - Company’s plans to grow marijuana indoors could strain the environment

The Verge - Weed greenhouses are so hot right now

Washington Post

• The surprisingly huge energy footprint of the booming marijuana industry (February 18, 2016)

• One surprising downside of marijuana legalization: major energy use

Washington Examiner - Legalized Marijuana is a Global Warming Nightmare (August 5, 2022)

Washington Times - Environmentalists alarmed at marijuana industry’s massive use of carbon-based electricity (January 7, 2018)

Weed Week 

• Can sustainability be profitable? - January 25, 2021

• An Inconvenient truth about indoor growing - July 17, 2020

WSBT - A study finds that indoor marijuana grows consume a staggering 1 percent of nation’s electricity

Yahoo! Finance

• The marijuana industry's dirty little secret (May 13, 2019 and January 15, 2020)

• Cannabis industry seeing growing interest (August 23, 2019)

INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE OF OUR STUDIES

Austria

• Ein Prozent des US-Stroms für Marihuana (One percent of US electricity use is for marijuana)

Belgium

• Le joint est mauvais pour l'environnement (Joints are bad for the environment)

Brazil

• Plantio de maconha nos EUA alimenta efeito estufa, diz cientista (Marijuana production in the US feeds global warming, says scientist)

• Maconha: quanto cuesta o “barato” para o meio ambiente? (Marijuana: how much  

• is “cheap” for the environment?)

Canada

• Calgary Herald - Grass is not green

• The Globe and Mail

  • Environmentalists cast wary eye on cannabis industry’s water, energy use amid approaching legalization (August 5, 2018)

  • The cost of growing marijuana 

France - 

• La culture du Cannabis : une mauvaise chose pour l'environnement? (Cultivation of cannabis: bad for environment?)

• La culture de Cannabis aux Etats-Unis représente 1 % de la consommation (Cannabis cultivation in the US is 1% of electricity consumption)

• Fumer un joint est mauvais pour l'environnement (Smoking a joint is bad for the environment)

• Journal de L’environnment - La culture illégale de marijuana: un mauvais plan pour le climat (The illegal cultivation of marijuana: a bad climate plan)

Germany - Energiefresser Marihuana (Marijuana: energy guzzler)

Greece

• Η μαριχουάνα προκαλεί παγκόσμια υπερθέρμανση! (Marijuana causes global warming)

Iceland

• Good - Not So Kind: Weed growers suck down 1 percent of all U.S. electricity

Italy

• Ambiente - Troppa cannabis legale, si rischiano black out elettrici negli Usa (Too much legal cannabis may cause power outages in the US.” (Italy - December 7, 2016)

• La marijuana fa male: ai consumi energetici  (Marijuana hurts: energy consumption)

Mexico

• Consume cultivo de mariguana en interiores 1% de la producción de electricidad en EU (Indoor grown marijuana consumes 1% of us electricity)

New Zealand

• Legalizing Marijuana -- Environmental Negatives? (July 6, 2020)

Poland

• Zaskakujące badanie nt. marihuany (Surprising study on marijuana)

• SwiatOze - Nie takie „zielone” (Not so Green) (December 1, 2017) - Polish

Portugal

• EUA: Produção caseira de Cannabis representa 1% de todo o consumo de electricidade (USA: Production home Cannabis represents 1% of all electricity consumption)

Romania

• Marijuana provoacă încălzirea globală (Marijuana causes global warming)

• Producatorii de marijuana din SUA consuma energie de 5 miliarde de dolari (US marijuana growing uses energy costing $5 billion)

Spain

• Producir un porro es como tener una bombilla encendida 75 horas (Producing a joint is like having a light bulb on for 75 hours)

Sweden 

• Cannabisodlare hot mot miljön (Cannabis growers threat to environment)

Switzerland

• Hanfanbau Als Strofresser - Warnung: Dieser Joint kann Ihre Umwelt gefährden! - Neue Zürcher Zeitung (HEMP Cultivation as Power Eaters - Warning: This joint can compromise your environment!) New Zurich Times

Turkey

• Esrar küresel ısınmaya sebep oluyor (Marijuana causes global warming)

UK

• Weed is not as green as you think it is (Independent) (April 20, 2021)