Prohibit Expansion of the Fossil Fuel Industry for AI Data Centers

Data center expansion is ensnaring us in our reliance on fossil fuels and reversing our limited climate progress. States are keeping coal plants open, building new gas-fired power plants, and reopening nuclear plants solely for data center use.1 According to the Center for Biological Diversity, carbon emissions from data center expansion, primarily powered by fracked gas and goal, are expected to triple by 2035, reaching 10 percent of our economy-wide emissions.2 Federal policymakers can act to stop this handout to Big Oil companies and prohibit the expansion of the fossil fuel industry for AI data centers.

  1. Antonio Olivo, “Internet Data Centers Are Fueling Drive to Old Power Source: Coal,” Washington Post, April 17, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2024/data-centers-internet-power-source-coal; Josh Saul, “Gas Power Roars Back to Drive Data-Center Boom,” Bloomberg, September 16, 2024, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-09-16/us-gas-power-roars-back-to-drive-data-center-boom; Adele Peters, “Is Restarting Three Mile Island Really a Good Idea,” Fast Company, October 8, 2024, https://www.fastcompany.com/91204023/is-restarting-three-mile-island-really-a-good-idea. ↩︎
  2. John Fleming and Jean Su, Data Crunch: How the AI Boom Threatens to Entrench Fossil Fuels and Compromise Climate Goals, Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Biological Diversity, October 2025, https://biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/pdfs/DataCrunch_report.pdf. ↩︎