Data centers lock in gas emissions

Big cloud and AI firms are underwriting next‑generation, utility‑scale gas power plants sized to their compute campuses, converting what firms call temporary emissions into long‑lived infrastructure commitments. Corporate clean‑energy claims (renewable purchases, credits) are often being used in parallel accounting while new on‑site or adjacent fossil plants are financed and built. — If true at scale, this practice could shift the tech sector from a net‑zero poster child into one of the world's largest long‑term industrial emitters, altering climate politics, corporate accountability, and energy infrastructure planning.