Amazon's new Texas AI data center could become the biggest CO2 polluter in the US — 7.65GW facility gets permit to spread 33 million tons of annual greenhouse gases, despite Amazon's clean energy pledge

Amazon’s data center is set to fill America’s atmosphere with CO₂

News By Efosa Udinmwen Published 11 August 2026 2 min read

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• Amazon’s Texas AI project could become America’s largest power plant polluter
• The facility could release 33 million tons of CO₂ annually
• Amazon plans to install 35 gas turbines capable of producing 7.65 GW

Amazon has confirmed plans to invest in a natural gas power plant that will supply electricity to a huge new AI data center in Texas.

A New York Times report claims the facility, located in Pecos County, would use 35 natural gas turbines to generate up to 7.65GW of power for the site.

Regulatory permits indicate the plant could release up to 33 million tons of CO₂ into the atmosphere each year.

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Largest single source of CO₂ pollution in the US

The scale of those emissions would make the Texas plant the single largest source of CO₂ pollution from any power plant in the United States.

By comparison, the country's current worst offender, the coal-burning James H. Miller Jr. Power Plant in Alabama, emits roughly 16 million tons of CO₂ annually.

Amazon had pledged to eliminate its planet-warming emissions by 2040 under a voluntary agreement known as the Climate Pledge.

The company co-founded that particular coalition in 2019, alongside more than 700 other large global businesses.

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