Ari Phillips
/
March 12, 2026

Virginia, a magnet for data centers, is hit with environmental lawsuit after approving large new gas power plant

In a state experiencing a rise in electricity demand because of a boom in data centers, Virginia’s Dominion Energy is planning to build a 944-megawatt gas-fired power plant at the site of a former coal plant in Chesterfield, just south of Richmond. Environmental groups are pushing back in court, arguing that the project violates 2020 state laws requiring renewable energy and environmental justice.

News Briefs

March 12, 2026
Trump Administration proposes rollback of rules meant to prevent chemical disasters

The Trump Administration is working to undo Biden-era rules that require petrochemical facilities and other hazardous sites to better prepare for disasters.

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March 12, 2026
Louisiana court finds local government held illegal secret meetings on chemical plant

A state appeals court in Louisiana recently ruled that a local officials in St. James Parish violated state law by holding closed-door meetings about a proposed chemical plant.

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March 12, 2026
Elon Musk’s AI company gets permit for natural gas power plant to run supercomputers

Despite an outcry over noise and air pollution from nearby residents, regulators recently granted an air permit for Elon Musk’s xAI natural gas-fire power plant.

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News Articles

Brendan Gibbons
/
March 5, 2026

Power grab for Musk AI data center in Memphis sparks environmental justice fight

Over the past two years, billionaire Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company has turned South Memphis into ground zero for one of the most contentious energy and environmental battles in the country. The fight involves gas turbines for a data center operated without a permit, threats to the region's drinking water supply, and a scandal over the company's Grok chatbot generating sexualized images of women and minors. 

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Tom Pelton
/
February 26, 2026

Growing use of secrecy agreements between developers and local governments troubles advocates of open government

Developers and local governments across the U.S. that want to avoid public debates with local residents about controversial projects – from data centers to solar farms and chemical plants – in recent years have increasingly employed nondisclosure agreements as a tactic to keep things quiet and out of the press until deals are complete. For example, when local elected officials in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, began negotiating to remove an historically Black community beside the Mississippi River for a 17,000-acre industrial complex, the officials signed what amount to gag orders promising to “protect the secrecy” of the project.

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Ari Phillips
/
February 19, 2026

Massive gas-powered data center in Permian Basin is latest in string of Texas AI computing hubs

Texas’s environmental agency recently approved the latest in a string of large gas-fired power plants to support the state’s burgeoning data center industrial complex. The GW Ranch Project, set to be constructed in Pecos County, West Texas, in the Permian Basin, could generate up to 7.65 gigawatts of electricity, making it the largest power project in the U.S. One gigawatt of electricity can power about 750,000 homes, so this single data center complex could power over five million homes, or a large American city.

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Ari Phillips
/
February 12, 2026

Trump Administration sues California to block new law protecting schools and homes from nearby drilling

The Trump Administration's Department of Justice recently sued California to try to block a new state law designed to prevent oil wells from being drilled dangerously close to schools, homes, hospitals, and other sensitive locations where people live, work, and gather. The federal lawsuit comes after the failure of an expensive effort by the oil and gas industry to try to revoke the California law by voter referendum, which was rejected in a wave of community pushback and public outcry.

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In Depth Reports

The Lone Star State’s Gas Plant Boom

A wave of 130 natural gas power plant projects in the Lone Star State, proposed in part to feed the artificial intelligence boom, could release as much greenhouse gas pollution as 27 million cars and trucks driving for a year, according to a report from the Environmental Integrity Project.

Pollution from Oil Refineries with Outdated Boilers and Heaters

The Environmental Integrity Project examined publicly available data and records for the 20 petroleum refineries in the U.S. that reported emitting the most greenhouse gases in 2023. Out of the refinery boilers and heaters with age information, 87 percent of these units (739 of 845) are outdated.

Plastic's Toxic River

The Environmental Integrity Project examined the records of 70 U.S. facilities that make plastics or the main chemical ingredients in plastics and found they discharged almost 12 million pounds in 2023 of total nitrogen and phosphorus.

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