--- title: "The Pollution Being Churned Out by AI Data Centers Is So Severe That It’s Almost Incomprehensible" description: "The extent of the pollution being put out by thousands of data centers is shocking. Some developers are exploiting regulatory loopholes." date: "2026-07-09" modified: "2026-07-09" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor.md" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/pollution-ai-data-centers-severe" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Climate Change" - "Environment" - "Ethics" - "Science & Energy" --- # The Pollution Being Churned Out by AI Data Centers Is So Severe That It’s Almost Incomprehensible ![A color-treated photograph of a smoke stack surrounded by clouds of thick acrid smoke.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* The massive surge of fossil fuel-powered data centers cropping up across the country are emitting an enormous amount of pollution, a pulsing indication that we're headed in the wrong direction in the midst of a climate crisis. The extent of the this polluting activity is confounding. As climate action group Floodlight found in a recent investigation [spotted by *Wired*](), Texas has become the epicenter of the United States' current obsession with constructing AI data centers. Companies are exploiting regulatory loopholes as they construct new facilities powered by pollutant-spewing onsite gas plants. The rate of growth of this "shadow grid" of custom power plants, some of which are big enough to fuel entire cities, is so enormous that the only global entity installing more gigawatts of gas plants than Texas is China, [according to environmental group Global Energy Monitor](). On a national scale, scientists are still racing to wrap their heads around the environmental footprint of our new AI obsession. Cornell researchers found that at the current rate of AI growth, the burgeoning industry could [represent 24 to 44 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions]() by 2030, the equivalent of adding five to ten million cars to US roadways. Meanwhile, ongoing projects like the one in Abilene, Texas, the starting point of president Donald Trump's flagship $500 billion Stargate project, are obtaining environmental permits that are usually reserved for small businesses like gas stations or dry cleaners, as *Wired* reports. The project's facilities feature a whopping 62 diesel backup generators, making it orders of magnitude bigger than smaller ventures that use just one or two. According to Floodlight, at least 38 data centers in Texas are using such regulatory loopholes to gain permits for onsite power sources, representing northward of 2,100 backup diesel generators, and yearly emissions of 2,500 tons of nitrogen oxides, which are highly toxic gases. One common tactic for operators in Texas, according to Floodlight, is to announce a small data center development that would come in under pollution thresholds, only to suddenly expand once established. Worse yet, for residents, it's already likely too late to do anything against the data center expansion. "The only chance to stop something like this is to do it at the very, very, very beginning of the process — before the permit is issued — through the public participation process," former Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) staffer James Doty told *Wired*. **More on data center pollution:** [*Amazon Is Spewing a Record Breaking Amount of Pollution to Power Its AI Data Centers*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()