ICYMI: The New York Times: Trump’s Vision for A.I. Dominance Comes With Major Air Pollution

Climate Power’s first-of-its-kind Data Center Air Pollution tracker reveals which tech companies are powering their data centers with polluting fossil fuels 

The pollution emitted by fossil-fuel-powered data centers can cause life-threatening illnesses, including asthma and lung cancer

Washington, DC – New reporting from the New York Times details how Donald Trump’s attacks on environmental protections, coupled with his support for polluting fossil fuels, have supercharged the harmful effects of data center expansion. Despite the fact that Americans overwhelmingly prefer data centers powered by clean energy, Trump has actively pressured tech companies and data centers to use gas and coal. While Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gives Big Tech free rein to pump toxins into our air, a new Climate Power tracker sheds light on how much air pollution the biggest tech companies’ data centers are generating. 

In addition to cutting harmful pollution, affordable, scalable clean energy avoids raising Americans’ energy costs, but Trump and Republicans in Congress have gutted clean energy projects across the country while demand from data centers soars. Instead of holding tech companies accountable, Trump has gathered ultra-wealthy tech executives and utility company CEOs for a voluntary “pledge” that is unenforceable and won’t do anything to lower Americans’ utility bills.

The New York Times: Trump’s Vision for A.I. Dominance Comes With Major Air Pollution

…In the debate over data centers that is roiling the country, water use and noise are often cited as objections by neighbors and environmentalists. Less mentioned has been the pollution from the scores of gas-burning plants that will power these data centers.

When the El Paso facility’s power plant is complete, it could emit as much planet-warming carbon dioxide in a year as 360,000 gasoline-powered passenger vehicles over the same period.

With encouragement from the Trump administration, data center developers are building their own power plants, instead of plugging into an electric grid. Nationwide, at least 82 gas-burning power plants are being built or have been proposed to power data centers, according to the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonpartisan research organization. Most were announced or granted permits within the past 18 months…

The administration has emphasized “energy dominance” by promoting oil, natural gas and coal over renewable power like solar and wind. Days after returning to office in 2025, Mr. Trump issued an executive order “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence” designed to make it faster to build data centers and easier to operate them…