Sierra Club projects data-center buildout could raise US power-sector emissions sharply
The electricity demands of planned AI data centers could lead to a significant increase in US carbon dioxide emissions by 2030, according to a new Sierra Club analysis.
If the planned projects are constructed and met with additional fossil-fuel infrastructure, the US power sector could emit 42% more planet-heating carbon dioxide in 2030 than it did in 2025. That would amount to an estimated 618 million tons of additional emissions over the decade.
The analysis puts the scale of the potential increase in perspective by comparing it with the annual electricity-related carbon pollution of nearly 129 million homes. It also estimates that the rise would erase the equivalent of 15 years of greenhouse-gas reductions.
The projection is higher than some earlier estimates, reflecting the potential climate impact of expanding data-center capacity and the power infrastructure required to support it.