Companies’ plans to build more than natural gas power plants across Texas to meet growing demand from data centers, artificial intelligence and other energy-hungry industries could release as much greenhouse gas pollution as 27 million automobiles spewing exhaust for a year, a new study reports. The Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) parsed through permit applications, government data and public announcements to learn that 108 new gas plants, 17 expansions of existing plants and five gas-related projects with yet-unspecified details are in the works across the Lone Star State. Together, those projects could emit 115 million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually, the report states.
