--- title: "Amazon’s New AI Data Center Is So Enormous That It Appears It Will Become the Largest Single Source of Pollution in the United States" description: "Amazon's planned data center for Pecos County, Texas would come with a gas plant capable of emitting 33 million tons of CO2 every year." date: "2026-08-11" modified: "2026-08-11" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/amazon-data-center-largest-pollution-source-texas-usa" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Environment" - "Ethics" - "Pollution" - "Science & Energy" --- # Amazon’s New AI Data Center Is So Enormous That It Appears It Will Become the Largest Single Source of Pollution in the United States ![A render of a data center in Pecos County, Texas]() *Pacifico Energy / Futurism* Tech Goliaths are scrambling to build as much AI computing capacity as they possibly can, come hell or [low water](). One of the dominant players in the space, Amazon Web Services, has its heart set on an AI data center so enormous that it could easily become the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States. According [to the *New York Times*](), Amazon has confirmed its investment in a massive gas-burning power plant in Texas, meant to supply up to 7.65 gigawatts of energy to a planned data center in Pecos County. Should it come online as planned, the plant's 35 turbines would be allowed to spew 33 million tons of CO2 a year, the *NYT* notes, which would easily make it the largest single fount of emissions in the country. That's a stunning amount of carbon exhaust, putting that single data center in a league with [entire countries]() including Switzerland, Ireland, and Bulgaria. It would also be in stark defiance of Amazon's stated climate goals, which center on reaching [net-zero carbon emissions]() by 2040. That's not lost on the tech giant. But as Amazon spokesperson Margaret Callahan told the *NYT*, the "world looks different now than when we co-founded the climate pledge." Even without the new Pecos County plant, Amazon's emissions are staggering. The company recently disclosed a [record increase]() in its total emissions last year, with company-wide electricity usage rising by 34 percent across 2025. That the company is blatantly papering over its previous climate commitments isn't a shocker at this point, in other words, as the company reaches new emission highs with each passing year. **More on Amazon:** *[Jeff Bezos Harshly Criticized for $200 Million Pledge to Protect the World's Most Endangered Species]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()