What changed
US power-sector carbon dioxide emissions could be 42% higher in 2030 than they were in 2025 as new fossil-fuel infrastructure is built to supply electricity for data centers, according to a new Sierra Club analysis.
That projected jump would erase roughly 15 years of greenhouse-gas reductions.
Why it matters
The data-center boom could turn a technology expansion into a major reversal for the power grid’s climate progress. Every new server hall needs dependable electricity, and this analysis points to fossil fuels filling that gap rather than cleaner power.
The number is a projection, not an observed outcome. But its scale is stark: five years of added data-center demand could push power-sector pollution back across ground that took 15 years to cover. For technology companies and the operators building the infrastructure beneath them, electricity sourcing becomes part of the product’s real footprint, not a footnote in a sustainability report.
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