Data centers could send US climate pollution skyrocketing

<figure> <img alt="Graphic image of a data center." data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/06/STKS528_DATA_CENTERS2_A.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The US power sector could release 42 percent more planet-heating carbon dioxide pollution by 2030 than it did in 2025 as it builds out more fossil fuel infrastructure to meet data center electricity demand, according to a <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-10-28/us-data-center-buildout-risks-erasing-years-of-climate-progress">new analysis by the Sierra Club</a>. That would essentially wipe out 15 years of greenhouse gas reductions.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">CO2 emissions from electricity generation would increase by 618 million tons by the end of the decade if planned AI projects are constructed. That's <a href="https://www.epa.gov/energy/greenhouse-gas-equivalencies-calculator#results">roughly equivalent</a> to carbon pollution from the electricity use of 128,788,523 homes in a year.</p> <figure class="wp-block-pullquote"><blockquote><p>The Sierra Club's estimate is higher than some previous projections</p></blockquote></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The Sie …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/science/1022258/data-centers-climate-change-carbon-dioxide-pollution-gas">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>