The tech giant is investing in the natural-gas-burning power plant as part of a huge data center in Texas, even as it pledges to honor climate commitments.

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The president’s push for data centers is driving a boom in gas-burning power plants. Texas is leading the way.

© The New York Times

It was the fifth such deal struck by the administration to get companies to drop offshore wind projects.

It was the fifth such deal struck by the administration to get companies to drop offshore wind projects.

© Joshua A. Bickel/Associated Press

In the latest example, the Energy Department will convert a shuttered Cold War-era uranium enrichment facility into a data center campus and gas plants.

© Kenny Holston/The New York Times

In the latest example, the Energy Department will convert a shuttered Cold War-era uranium enrichment facility into a data center campus and gas plants.

Federal-state stoush comes as rating agency warns that electricity bills could skyrocket

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Queensland and the Northern Territory have rejected the federal government’s plans to mandate that AI datacentres use renewable power, rubbishing Anthony Albanese’s proposals to regulate the booming technology as “underdeveloped ideas that hand increased power to Canberra”.

The latest federal-state stoush on energy comes as S&P Global, the economic rating agency, warns that power use from datacentres could rise five-fold by 2035 to 10% of Australia’s total consumption, and that a mismatch between delivery timelines for datacentres and renewable projects could lead to energy bills skyrocketing.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Minns government promised no new coalmines but permits expanding existing sites, despite being behind on climate targets

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At Branxton community hall in the New South Wales Hunter Valley last week, local resident Janet Murray was given five minutes to speak about plans for the state’s biggest coalmine extension.

Before her were dozens of people, also there to share their views about whether the 19-year extension proposed by Hunter Valley Operations (HVO) should be allowed to proceed.

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© Photograph: Lock the Gate

© Photograph: Lock the Gate

© Photograph: Lock the Gate

The president joined Republican officials who slammed the National Academies of Sciences for a chapter about climate science in an educational guide for judges.

The predicted £264bn cost by 2050 could be even higher, plus renewables avoid a far higher total of emissions than can be captured, writes Andrew Boswell, while Simon Oldridge calls out vested interests

Prof Myles Allen and colleagues, in their letter (12 July) on carbon capture and storage (CCS), propose licensing gasfields on condition that producers store an increasing proportion of “the carbon dioxide their products generate”. Their proposal only considers CO₂. Methane is excluded by choice although it leaks throughout global fossil-fuel supply chains, including during extraction, processing, liquefaction and shipping.

A growing academic literature, supported by satellite observations of major methane plumes, shows that these emissions can be very substantial, and are the dominant near-term climate impact for gas supplied as liquefied natural gas.

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© Photograph: Peter Cade/Getty Images

© Photograph: Peter Cade/Getty Images

© Photograph: Peter Cade/Getty Images

The European Union is facing a green backlash as emissions cuts become harder and require bigger overhauls to industry and livelihoods

Attribution science is advancing quickly, researchers said. That could support lawsuits seeking damages for severe events worsened by global warming.

We visited researchers seeking ways to make homes safer. They set a lot of fires.

The president joined Republican officials who slammed the National Academies of Sciences for a chapter about climate science in an educational guide for judges.

© David Coleman/Alamy

The European Union is facing a green backlash as emissions cuts become harder and require bigger overhauls to industry and livelihoods

© Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters

Attribution science is advancing quickly, researchers said. That could support lawsuits seeking damages for severe events worsened by global warming.

© Stephane Mahe/Reuters

We visited researchers seeking ways to make homes safer. They set a lot of fires.

© Will Crooks for The New York Times

A new book sheds light on President Trump’s affinity for fossil fuels.

A new book sheds light on President Trump’s affinity for fossil fuels.

© Adriana Loureiro Fernandez for The New York Times