Texas data centers could wipe out two decades of clean air gains
Texas data center boom could erase decades of progress on air quality
A new Houston Advanced Research Center report finds that Texas' planned data center build-out could reverse 20 years of air quality progress. If facilities rely on on-site natural gas, statewide nitrogen oxide emissions could jump 136% by 2031, back to 2004 levels, and particulate matter could hit highs unseen since 2006. Even a clean grid-and-renewables scenario still raises emissions 35%. At least 288 projects are planned.
We need to treat data centers as the industrial facilities they are … to hold them accountable to the same industrial and power generation emissions standards that produced Texas progress.