Activists protest Amazon AI data centers as company builds Texas gas power plant
During Climate Week in New York, protesters gathered outside Amazon’s headquarters to link the rapid expansion of AI data centers with accelerating climate impacts. Bill McKibben told the crowd that solar and wind power are now cheap enough to blunt the worst excesses of the crisis.
Key points
- Amazon is constructing a Texas data center powered by a natural‑gas plant with 35 gas turbines.
- Former Amazon engineer Kavita Sthanumurthy says internal research shows Amazon’s renewable share is about 22 %.
- Over 1,200 Amazon workers signed a letter demanding the company stop providing cloud services for mass surveillance and build 24/7 clean‑energy data centers.
Former Amazon software engineer and climate‑justice organizer Kavita Sthanumurthy said the company still claims 100 % renewable electricity, but her independent research puts the actual share at about 22 %. She highlighted a new natural‑gas‑burning power plant in Pecos, Texas – part of a massive data‑center project with 35 gas turbines – that could become one of the largest sources of climate pollution in the United States. Sthanumurthy added that Amazon is lobbying to lower standards and relies on renewable‑energy credits that do not offset the gas use.
She also noted a $2.6 billion Department of Homeland Security contract awarded to Amazon Web Services and a 2021 Project Nimbus agreement with the Israeli government. More than 1,200 Amazon workers have signed a letter demanding the firm stop providing cloud tools for mass surveillance and build data centers powered by continuous clean energy.
Climate Activists Target AI Data Centers & Amazon’s Plan to Build Largest U.S. Gas Power Plant
democracynow.org · 22 September 2026
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