Data center buildout helped push significant growth in US power sector emissions in 2025, according to a Rhodium Group analysis

Data center buildout helped push significant growth in US power sector emissions in 2025, according to a Rhodium Group analysis

 ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS

Greenhouse gas emissions in the United States rose last year, snapping a two-year streak of declines as cold winter temperatures drove demand for heating fuel and the AI boom led to a surge in power generation, a think tank said Tuesday.

The 2.4 percent increase in the world's largest economy came as President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress enacted a series of policies hostile to climate action, though the authors of the Rhodium Group report said the full impact of those decisions will only be felt in the coming years.

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