That's mostly LLMs, not image gen

My point is that the average power usage for generating images is still well below the average gaming session. You'd have to be generating dozens of images everyday to come close.

We need new solar/wind/nuclear power to power our existing infrastructure

You could of stopped there. Both are energy drains and I'd even argue gaming has less of a return. But even if someone is just generating images for fun, it's still fine, just like gaming is just for fun and doesn't return anything but it's still fine.

It's not up to you to pick and choose which technologies are okay based on what the media is saying, but our grid to adapt and upgrade to clean energy (which should have happened a long time ago).

I find enjoyment and use in it, and I'm using less energy than some guy playing GTA or making popcorn. Tbh, the whole anti AI movement kind of comes off as being mostly about acting like dicks and gatekeeping. If you don't want to use it, then don't.