WASHINGTON (AP) The Republican-controlled Congress has voted to repeal a federal fee on oil and gas producers who release high levels of methane, undoing a major piece of former President Joe Biden’s climate policy aimed at controlling the planet-warming super pollutant.” The fee, which had not gone into effect, was expected to bring in billions of dollars.
The Senate on Thursday voted along party lines 52-47 to repeal the fee, following a similar House vote on Wednesday. The measure now goes to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it.
Methane is a much stronger global warming gas than carbon dioxide, especially in the short term, and is to blame for about one-third of the worlds warming so far. Oil and gas producers are among the biggest U.S. methane emitters and controlling it is critical to address climate change.
Most major oil and gas companies do not release enough methane to trigger the fee, which is $900 per ton, an amount that would increase to $1,500 by 2026. The measure was part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, but the Environmental Protection Agency didnt formally set rules until late last year.
That timing made it vulnerable to the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to pass a resolution to undo rules that are finalized toward the end of a president’s term. If those resolutions pass and the president signs them, the rule is terminated and agencies cant issue a similar one again.
Its a sorry testament to the influence of Big Oil on Capitol Hill that one of the top priorities of Congress is a blatant handout to the worst actors in the fossil fuel industry,” said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizens energy program.
The American Petroleum Institute, the largest lobbying group for the oil and gas industry, applauded the move, calling the fee a duplicative, punitive tax on American energy production that stifles innovation.”
Thanks to industry action, methane emissions continue to decline as production increases, and we support building on this progress through smart and effective regulation, said Amanda Eversole, the executive vice president and chief advocacy officer at API.
Globally, methane concentrations in the atmosphere have been steadily climbing.
Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, who chairs the Senate’s Environment and Public Works committee, spoke in favor of repeal on the Senate floor.
We should be expanding natural gas production, not restricting it. Instead, the natural gas tax will constrain American natural gas production, leading to increased energy prices and providing a boost to the production of natural gas in Russia, she said.
Repeal of the methane fee is the latest of several pro-oil and gas moves Republicans have taken since the start of Trump’s term. On his first day, he declared a national energy emergency, calling for more oil and gas production, and fewer environmental reviews. Democrats failed to overturn that declaration yesterday. Trump has also lifted a pause on new applications for liquified natural gas export terminals, removed the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, and moved to open up more areas of public lands and waters for oil and gas drilling.
The fee on methane releases was aimed at pushing companies to adopt better practices to curb emissions and make their operations more efficient. Technology exists to prevent leaks and to fix them. The EPA had said the fee was expected to reduce 1.2 million metric tons of methane emissions by 2035thats about the same as removing 8 million cars from the road for a year.
The Biden administration had also implemented methane regulations on existing oil and gas wells, after addressing methane escaping from new wells. The EPA at the time meant for the fee to complement that rule and focus on the worst polluters.
About half of all methane emissions from wells are from just 6% that are smaller producers, according to a recent study.
Michael Phillis and Matthew Daly, Associated Press
A grassroots organization is encouraging U.S. residents not to spend any money Friday as an act of economic resistance to protest what the group’s founder sees as the malign influence of billionaires, big corporations and both major political parties on the lives of working Americans.
The People’s Union USA calls the 24 hours of spending abstinence set to start at midnight an economic blackout, a term that has since been shared and debated on social media. The activist movement said it also plans to promote weeklong consumer boycotts of particular companies, including Walmart and Amazon.
Other activists, faith-based leaders and consumers already are organizing boycotts to protest companies that have scaled back their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and to oppose President Donald Trump’s moves to abolish all federal DEI programs and policies. Some faith leaders are encouraging their congregations to refrain from shopping at Target, one of the companies backing off DEI efforts, during the 40 days of Lent that begin Wednesday.
Here are some details about the various events and experts’ thoughts on whether having consumers keep their wallets closed is an effective tool for influencing the positions corporations take.
Who’s behind the 24-hour Economic Blackout?
The People’s Union USA, which takes credit for initiating the no-spend day, was founded by John Schwarz, a meditation teacher who lives near the Chicago area, according to his social media accounts.
The organization’s website said it’s not tied to a political party but stands for all people. Requests for comment sent to the group’s email address this week did not receive a reply.
The planned blackout is scheduled to run from 12 a.m. EST through 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday. The activist group advised customers to abstain from making any purchases, whether in store or online, but particularly not from big retailers or chains. It wants participants to avoid fast food and filling their car gas tanks, and says shoppers with emergencies or in need of essentials should support a local small business and try not to use a credit or debit card.
People’s Union plans another broad-based economic blackout on March 28, but it’s also organizing boycotts targeting specific retailers Walmart and Amazon as well as global food giants Nestle and General Mills. For the boycott against Amazon, the organization is encouraging people to refrain from buying anything from Whole Foods, which the e-commerce company owns.
What other boycotts are being planned?
There are a number of boycotts being planned, particularly aimed at Target. The discounter, which has backed diversity and inclusion efforts aimed at uplifting Black and LGBTQ+ people in the past, announced in January it was rolling back its DEI initiatives.
A labor advocacy group called We Are Somebody, led by Nina Turner, launched a boycott of Target on February 1 to coincide with Black History Month.
Meanwhile, an Atlanta-area pastor, the Rev. Jamal Bryant, organized a website called targetfast.org to recruit Christians for a a 40-day Target boycott starting March 5, which marks Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Other faith leaders have endorsed the protest.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization, announced in late January it would identify two companies in the next 90 days that will be boycotted for abandoning their diversity, equity and inclusion pledges. The organization formed a commission to identify potential candidates.
“Donald Trump can cut federal DEI programs to the bone, he can claw back federal money to expand diversity, but he cannot tell us what grocery store we shop at, Sharpton said in a statement posted on the National Action Network’s website.
Will the events have any impact?
Some retailers may feel a slight pinch from Friday’s broad blackout, which is taking place in a tough economic environment, experts said. Renewed inflation worries and Trump’s threat of tariffs on imported goods already have had an effect on consumer sentiment.
The (market share) pie is just so big, Marshal Cohen, chief retail advisor at market research firm Circana, said. You cant afford to have your slices get smaller. Consumers are spending more money on food. And that means theres more pressure on general merchandise or discretionary products.
Still, Cohen thinks the overall impact may be limited, with any meaningful sales declines more likely to surface in liberal-leaning coastal regions and big cities.
Anna Tuchman, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, said she thinks the economic blackout will likely make a dent in daily retail sales but won’t be sustainable.
I think this is an opportunity for consumers to show that they have a voice on a single day,” she said. I think its unlikely that we would see long-run sustained decreases in economic activity supported by this boycott.
Other boycotts have produced different results.
Target saw a drop in sales in the spring and summer quarter of 2023 that the discounter attributed in part to customer backlash over a collection honoring LGBTQ+ communities for Pride Month. As a result, Target didnt carry Pride merchandise in all of its stores the following year.
Tuchman studied the impact of a boycott against Goya Foods during the summer of 2020 after the company’s CEO praised Trump. But her study, based on sales from research firm Numerator, found the brand saw a sales increase driven by first-time Goya buyers who were disproportionately from heavily Republican areas.
However, the revenue bump proved temporary; Goya had no detectable sales increase after three weeks, Tuchman said.
It was a different story for Bud Light, which spent decades as Americas bestselling beer. Sales plummeted in 2023 after the brand sent a commemorative can to a transgender influencer. Bud Lights sales still havent fully recovered, according to alcohl consulting company Bump Williams.
Tuchman thinks a reason is because there were plenty of other beers that the brands mostly conservative customer base could buy to replace Bud Light.
Afya Evans, a political and image consultant in Atlanta, said she would make a point of shopping on Friday but will focus on small businesses and Black-owned brands.
Evans is aware of other boycotts but she said she liked this one because she believes it could have some effect on sales.
Its a broader thing, she said. We want to see what the impact is. Let everybody participate. And plan from there.
Anne D’innocenzio and Haleluya Hadero, AP business writers
AP Business Writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this report.
Love Warby Parker glasses, but not the high price tags? This one’s for you. Target is partnering with Warby Parker to bring designer-quality, affordable eyewear to customers, opening five “shop-in-shops” in 2025, the retailers announced on Thursday.
Warby Parker staff will run the shops within Target locations, which will offer glasses, sunglasses, contacts, eye exams, and vision screenings, consistent with the eyewear brand’s own stores. Prices will start at $95, including prescription lenses.
The first five locations will open in the second half of 2025 at the following Target stores:
Willowbrook, IL
Bloomington, MN
Brick, NJ
Columbus, OH (Polaris)
Exton, PA
Warby Parker at Target will also debut online at Target.com with the opening of the first location. More Warby Parker shops are slated to open in 2026.
“Warby Parker at Target reflects both brands’ commitment to style, affordability, quality and convenience,” Christina Hennington, executive vice president of Target said in a statement. “As we test and learn with this new partnershipbringing Warby Parker’s expertise into select storeswe’re enticing new consumers to discover more of Target.”
The new partnership will complement, not replace the Minneapolis-based retailer’s growing Target Optical business, which offers a range of products and services at more than 500 of Target’s 2,000 stores nationwide.
The Warby Parker shops are the latest addition to Target’s growing number of in-store partnerships, which already include Starbucks, Apple, and Ulta.
The news comes after Target announced it was rolling back its DEI efforts, ending its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and investments. The move has angered activists, who are calling for customers to boycott the brand as part of both the Target Fast and “Feb. 28 Economic Blackout” movements.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will increase its giving over the next two years in response to what it calls a crisis” prompted by the Trump administration‘s freeze on federal foreign aid and the now- suspended freeze on federal grants.
“This is a major crisis for our sector and its a time when those of us who can do more should do more,” said John Palfrey, president of MacArthur Foundation, in an interview Wednesday with The Associated Press.
Palfrey announced the increase in a blog post on the foundation’s website, saying, The cliff of funding from federal programs has sent budgets underwater in field after field, and people and communities in the United States and abroad will suffer.
Palfrey said the foundation would increase giving from 5% of its endowment, which is the minimum required by the Internal Revenue Service, to at least 6% for the next two years. The foundation reported it had $8.7 billion in assets in 2023 and it pays out around $400 million annually. Palfrey said he expected to grant out around $150 million more over the next two years.
In his first days in office, President Donald Trump suspended foreign aid and directed the Office of Management and Budget to temporarily suspend all federal grants and contracts. Trump said he wanted to review whether all the grants aligned with his policies. The moves have had profound impacts across many sectors.
The U.S. is the largest funder of global humanitarian responses and spent $68 billion on foreign aid in 2023. In 2021, nonprofits reported receiving $267 billion in government grants, according to an analysis of the tax forms that nonprofits file by the Urban Institute.
In comparison, foundations granted out $103 billion in 2023, according to research from GivingUSA.
Palfrey called on other foundations to join them in the commitment to increase their giving.
Philanthropy should act in a different way than we have in the past, which is historically, weve simply given out more money when the stock market has gone up and weve given out less money when the stock market has gone down, he said.
Freedom Together Foundation, formerly called the JPB Foundation, also announced that it would double its grantmaking to 10% of its endowment in response to the Trump administration’s policies.
Deepak Bhargava, the foundation’s president, wrote in a letter that the current moment reminds him of the AIDS crisis, when activists pushed the government to find a cure and changed the place of LGBTQ+ people in society.
The movement made a way out of no way. That can happen again, as it has so many times throughout American history, Bhargava wrote. There is a dispiriting tide of fear right now, and Im disappointed by how few leaders and institutions are stepping up. But my own experience and our shared history teaches us a hopeful lesson: courage is contagious.
The Chicago-based MacArthur Foundation is best known for its genius fellowship, which recognizes extraordinary people who work across disciplines and awards them a $800,000 grant. The foundation also focuses on climate, criminal justice and journalism initiatives and has ongoing commitments to Chicago and Nigeria.
Palfrey said foundations found ways to make more money available to their grantees during the COVID-19 pandemic and could do so again now. For example, the MacArthur Foundation was one of eight foundations that issued bonds, essentially borrowing against their endowments to be able to pay out more in the short term.
I think we need to do something different in 2025, Palfrey said. But I think its the same rationale.”
Elisha Smith Arrillaga, vice president of research at The Center for Effective Philanthropy, said nonprofits report feeling a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety because of the president’s executive orders.
Really what nonprofits do is that they stand in the gap for all Americans,” she said. “So my hope is that organizations and individuals across this country doing this work in their communities will stand up for the nonprofits that they support, especially at a moment like this.
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
Thalia Beaty, Associated Press
The deadly Los Angeles wildfires had just begun when Comic Relief U.S.’s new CEO took the helm at the charity that uses entertainment to combat poverty.
Michele Ganeless noticed Hollywood’s response all the way from New York. She saw late-night TV host Jimmy Kimmel turn his show’s backlot into a donation center. The Largo, an intimate nightclub featuring A-list comedians, hosted benefit performances. Inspired, Ganeless saw an opportunity to help out from the nations other cultural hub through Stand-Up for LA.
The goal was to help the New York comedy community give back,” Ganeless said of the March 3 comedy event including Jon Stewart, John Oliver, Ramy Youssef and Hannah Berner at The Town Hall in Manhattan.
Everybody has their own special connection,” she added. But, obviously, in the entertainment community and the comedy community, there is a New York-LA connection.
Disasters tend to elicit widespread support for those impacted and researchers say meaningful relationships drive charitable donations. The six weeks since Los Angeles’ most destructive wildfires have proven no different. FireAid raised an estimated $100 million with performances from dozens of popular musical acts. But the unique relationship between the United States’ two largest cities has been evident in the fundraisers organized by New York’s entertainment, creative and hospitality industries motivated by their professions’ bicoastal ties.
Comic Relief US’ grantees on the ground including actress Taraji P. Henson’s foundation dedicated to marginalized communities’ mental health, youth homelessness nonprofit Covenant House and The Boys & Girls Club are helping the nonprofit determine the areas of greatest need. Berner, a former reality show cast member who has become a fixture of internet comedy, promised a fun night at Stand-Up for LA and called it a joy to also fundraise for families.
I was born and raised in New York and have seen others rally for us when we needed it, Berner said in a statement. And now its our turn to show up for L.A. during their difficult time.
TV personality Andy Cohen is offering fans the chance to be guests at a New York taping of Bravo’s Watch What Happens Live.”
With a donation of at least $10 until April 6, entrants could win a behind-the-scenes experience, airfare and lodging. The beneficiary is the SoCal Fire Fund, which works with vulnerable students, school employees and families recovering from the blazes.
As completely different as they are, New York and Los Angeles are inexorably connected; when a calamity happens on either coast its just instinctual that we support each other,” Cohen said in a statement to The Associated Press.
It isn’t just celebrities getting involved. Over 170 people bought tickets for a benefit show on a recent Friday night in Brooklyn. The organizers, artist manager Heather de Armas and music publicist Ava Tunnicliffe, donated the $3,275 in proceeds to Mutual Aid LA.
The wildfires felt more present as the two watched the devastation unfold through social media posts. The majority of Tunnicliffe’s clients and coworkers are based in the Los Angeles area. Alt-pop vocalist B.Miles told the crowd “this is a very special thing to be a part of because the Pasadena native still has family there.
It was easy to get people on board to help out what I would call our sister city, Tunnicliffe said. And I think they would do the same for us.
Carlos Quirarte, co-founder of Ray’s Bar, wasn’t sure anyone would pitch in for a clothing drive he organized at his locations in Greenpoint and the Lower East Side. But people overwhelmed their tiny, little spaces, he said, and local movers Piece of Cake dropped off 300 boxes for shipping. Skateboarder Mark Gonzales, a longtime Supreme collaborator, donated six boxes of the streetwear brand’s merchandise.
Customers again showed up for a Jan. 18 fundraiser. Guests’ $20 entry fees and $1 of every drink purchase went to World Central Kitchen. Quirarte said the event, co-sponsored by dating app Bumble, garnered more than $20,000.
It wasn’t the first time that he and his business partner have rallied their clientele around communities impacted by disasters. A 2012 power-on party after Hurricane Sandy stands out as the craziest example, he said. But he’s still blown away by the response.
We just have so many regulars at both locations that are transplants. So, you were hearing stories at the bar,” Quirarte said. Aside from that, and aside from having a mass bunch of friends from the area, you couldnt help but feel. And its here. Its at home.
A seven-hour fundraiser bridging coasts brought together runners, cooks, artists, musicians and yogis on January 25. Gina Bruno, a classically trained chef from New York who runs a food-focused event space, said the idea began as just a bake sale. But the concept snowballed into something more ambitious after she texted Luke Haverty, the founder of a creative studio called A Supper Series.
The bake-off continued with participants including lifestyle photographer Chloé Crane-Leroux and James Beard Award winner Sophia Roe who have a combined 1.8 million Instagram followers as well as viral spots L’Appartement 4F and Leon’s Bagels. A 5K run took participants across the Williamsburg Bridge. There was live music, a bouquet workshop and yoga classes.
For LA raised $52,000 for California Community Foundation and World Central Kitchen, according to Haverty. A silent auction supported a GoFundMe for Los Angeles artists.
Haverty said they felt a responsibility to provide as many ways as possible for people to put their individual talents toward something bigger than one small donation.
Once there was a platform for people to be able to invest into, that ultimately is what connected the coast, he said.
You kind of put your hands up in the air until there’s something to dump your time and your energy into, Bruno added. I needed to do something because I was able to do something.
Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of APs philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.
James Pollard, Associated Press
Prada opened its runway show during Milan Fashion Week on Thursday with its take on the little black dress, reflecting what Miuccia Prada called a very black moment in world affairs.
To work in this difficult moment is really tough, Prada said backstage. Sidestepping overtly political discussion, she added: What we try to do are clothes that make sense for women today.”
Liberating women
Prada’s Fall-Winter 2025-26 collection is aimed to liberate women from strictly feminine forms. In that way the little black dress series and other runway looks were loosely constructed, not body-hugging.
Co-creative director Raf Simons said liberation was in itself an act of resistance.
You cannot be liberated if you don’t take a risk. There needs to be more resistance, he said.
The black numbers gave way to girlish knit dresses in Alice-in-Wonderland oversized proportions, layered over trousers for winter days on the playground. Pajamas made a now-familiar shift to daywear, with button tops tucked into sleeper skirts.
Raw seams were intentionally revealed on garments. Waistlines were gathered as if by basting, and could be moved from the waist for a midi-skirt or over the bust for a minidress.
I would also say that we have rejected a lot of construction,” Simons said, specifically construction that restricts movement.
Gestures of glamour
Its a mix-and-match world at Prada and just about any of the pieces work as separates: Short-sleeve and tube knitwear tops were bedecked with baubles, like found treasures. Mens shirts scrunched messily at the waist, as if they came untucked.
Staples were glammed up with faux fur stoles and fur lapels on coats, blazers and a striking lime green poncho.
Prada VIPs
American actress Hunter Schafer was among the front-row guests, invited in a show of support, the designers said. The trans actress posted recently that her new passport had been issued with a male gender marker.
As usual, crowds of fans waited opposite the Fondazione Prada show space to shower adoration on VIPs. Other front-row stars included actresses Juliette Binoche, Gal Gadot, Maya Hawke and Chen Haoyu, along with Japanese singers Jo and Harua and Korean singer Karina.
Is Prada shopping?
Milan is abuzz with speculation over whether an Italian company might step forward to buy the rival fashion house Versace. Market speculation has focused on the Prada Group, which besides its namesake brand owns Miu Miu, the footwear brands Church’s and Car Shoe, and Marchesi 1824 pastry shops.
“I think it is on everybodys table,” Prada said with a chuckle when asked about the Prada Group’s interest.
Colleen Barry, AP fashion writer
Stripe on Thursday announced a tender offer for employees and shareholders that valued the company at $91.5 billion, nearly 41% higher than its valuation a year ago, potentially delaying the fintech firm’s ambitions of going public.
The deal signals the strong recovery of the global venture capital sector, as central banks have started to cut interest rates amid subdued inflation and strong economic data.
“Stripe was profitable in 2024, and we expect to be so in 2025 and beyond,” co-founders John Collison and Patrick Collison said in their annual letter published on Thursday.
The payments processing company was valued at $65 billion in a deal last year, which allowed employees to cash out their stock.
At its peak, Stripe was valued at $95 billion in 2021.
The company serves a variety of high-profile customers, including Elon Musk-led social media platform X, Amazon, car rental firm Hertz Global and grocery delivery app Instacart.
Stripe, which has headquarters in San Francisco and Dublin, allows companies to accept payments, send payouts and automate financial processes.
Pritam Biswas and Jaiveer Shekhawat, Reuters
FBI Director Kash Patel is considering bringing in trainers from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to beef up agents’ martial arts and self-defense skills, according to four people familiar with the plan laid out on a call this week with FBI field offices.
The newly appointed director discussed the idea during his first video conference call with the bureau’s 55 field office supervisors on Wednesday, said the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss the call’s contents because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Two people briefed on the matter said current FBI agents described the idea as “surreal” and “wacky.”
The FBI declined to comment, and a spokesperson for UFC did not have an immediate comment.
President Donald Trump is a fan of the sport, mixed martial arts bouts that pit two competitors against each other in a cage, and notably attended a UFC event in New York days after his November election victory, sitting with UFC President Dana White, who he counts as a close friend.
During the call, Patel said that Dan Bongino, a far-right podcaster whom Trump tapped to be the FBI’s deputy director, is a huge UFC fan and that he inspired Patel to try the training, one of the people briefed on the call said. Patel added that he thinks it is great, and is exploring a partnership between the FBI and the UFC.
“There is training the FBI receives in physical altercations. If Kash Patel believed that should be beefed up, the answer is not to go to Donald Trump’s best friend who runs the UFC,” a former Justice Department official said, when asked about Patel’s proposal.
“It’s clearly motivated by the glitz and glamour show, and Trump’s friend,” said the official, who was granted anonymity out of concern about possible retribution.
It was not immediately clear how any partnership would work.
Patel has rattled the bureau since he was sworn in last week. One of his first acts was to call for some 1,500 FBI employees to be transferred from Washington to field offices around the country and an FBI office in Huntsville, Alabama.
Patel telegraphed his plans to shake up the FBI’s operations in his book “Government Gangsters,” in which he called for moving headquarters out of Washington, D.C., and curbing the historical practice of requiring FBI agents who wish to serve in supervisory roles from doing 18-month stints at headquarters to gain experience.
During Wednesday’s nationwide call with field offices, Patel reiterated his commitment to scaling back staffing at headquarters and re-distributing people into the field, two people familiar with the call said.
He also said Bongino will begin visiting field offices immediately after he starts his new job in mid-March, one of the people added.
Sarah N. Lynch, Reuters
A spike in demand for electricity from tech companies competing in the artificial intelligence race is upending forecasts for natural gas-fired power in the U.S., as utilities reconsider it as a major new power source.
That is not what many scientists and climate activists envisioned in the fight against climate change. And it is endangering progress on the greenhouse gas-reduction goals that scientists say are necessary to manage the damage from burning fossil fuels that warms the planet.
Across the nation, tech companies are snapping up real estate and seeking new power projects to feed their energy-hungry operations.
In some cases, Big Tech is building climate-friendlier projects like solar, wind, geothermal or battery storage.
But industry decision-makers are also turning to natural gas for what they say is a cheap and reliable source of power, raising the prospect that gas-fired power will play a bigger role and for a longer period of time than even they had anticipated.
Gas is growing faster now and in the medium term than ever before, said Corianna Mah, a power and renewables analyst at data analytics firm Enverus.
Before the spike in electricity demand last year, many in the industry had assumed that there would be few new gas plants and that the nation’s fleet would gradually retire in favor of a grid powered by wind, solar, geothermal, batteries and possibly the next generation of nuclear power sources that don’t emit the planet-warming greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
For many countries, that ramp down is happening as they work toward the goal of slashing their emissions to zero or at least, net zero by 2050, which scientists say could help the world avoid the worst effects of climate change.
In the U.S., the electric power sector is the second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, according to government figures. And the construction of every new natural gas plant built to last for decades is a setback for climate goals, said John Quigley, a senior fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.
At a top level, we will not get to net zero by 2050 if we are building new gas plants. Period, Quigley said.
Burning natural gas emits carbon dioxide, and before that, when it escapes from wellheads or pipelines in its unburned form, it’s an even more potent greenhouse gas called methane.
Quigley and others say there is enough solar, wind and battery storage projects on the drawing board to satisfy growing electricity demand. But, they say, utilities and grid operators lack the will to abandon natural gas.
Enverus now projects the next five years will bring roughly 46 gigawatts of gas-fired power online. That compares to 39 gigawatts in the past five years, it said.
Announcements last year alone include:
two 705-megawatt plants by Evergy in Kansas;
Entergy’s 2,300-megawatt plant to serve Metas $10 billion AI data center in northern Louisiana, a pair of new plants in Texas and another in Mississippi;
a 1,450-megawatt plant by the Tennessee Valley Authority;
a 1,400 megawatt Duke Energy project in North Carolina;
and Georgia Power’s plans for three oil or gas units with a capacity of up to 1,300 megawatts.
And thats not all.
Calpine said it’s exploring new gas-fired capacity in the congested mid-Atlantic region, especially Pennsylvania and Ohio, where analysts say the grid operator is trying to fast-track new gas-fired power plants into service.
In Pennsylvania, the former Homer City coal-fired power plant is being transformed into a massive gas-fired station that’s expected to supply a data center and got a $5 million state grant to do it.
On top of the artificial intelligence boom, the frenzy for new electricity is fueled by cryptomining, the broader electrification of society and a bipartisan push to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.
It is coinciding with the closure of coal plants and aging nuclear plants, unable to compete with cheaper gas, solar and wind.
Across the U.S., gas pipeline operators are exuberant about the new demand and are reporting strong interest in extending their lines.
Chris Kalnin, the CEO of BKV, the largest natural-gas producer in the Barnett Shale gas reservoir in Texas, said the trend there is toward gas plants being built next to data centers in a booming data center corridor in metropolitan Dallas.
Data center developers there are in an arms race to secure power, Kalnin said.
Data center guys are trying to source power and trying to get to market with their data centers as fast as possible,” Kalnin said. The key to signing up cloud-computing customers “is getting your facility online quickly and getting your facility online quickly requires you to have power and dependable power and a cost-efficient power source.
Rob Jennings of the American Petroleum Institute, said the sudden growth in actual and forecast electricity demand has put a premium on power sources that can be built fast and cheaply and are reliable.
That means natural gas is once again attractive to investors over solar and wind, he said.
In the near term, the reality has dawned on most that it has to be gas, Jennings said.
Industry officials say they strive to deliver electricity that is clean, reliable and affordable.
For instance, some new gas plants are replacing higher-pollution coal-fired plants, some are designed to run only at times of high demand, some are paired with battery storage or a wind farm nearby and some are designed with carbon-capture technology or to run on a hydrogen blend, said Alex Bond of the Edison Electric Institute, which represents U.S. investor-owned electric companies.
At the very least, building gas-fired capacity will have high-level political support.
In his remarks to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last month, President Donald Trump declared that he’d issue emergency declarations to get coal – and gas-plants built to make the U.S. a superpower of manufacturing, cryptomining and artificial intelligence.
But Amanda Levin of the Natural Resources Defense Council said the U.S. must take big steps by 2035 to reduce its reliance on gas.
That means slashing a fleet of roughly 1,500 gas plants down to about 100 if the U.S. is to meet strong climate commitments and preserve a chance of addressing climate change, she said.
Still, she said there are reasons to be optimistic that gas plant projects on the drawing board wont get built.
In recent weeks, Chinese tech startup Deepseek released a new AI model that it boasted was on par with similar models fro U.S. companies and at a fraction of the cost calling into question the need for a massive expansion of energy-hungry data centers.
And some analysts believe utilities overestimate the electricity theyll need, essentially by double- or triple-counting data center proposals when firms express interest in multiple locations but only build in one.
Besides, Levin said, data center operators are getting better at energy efficiency, particularly in how they cool their servers.
Even if all the gas plants are built, they may not get used, she said.
There are a lot of reasons, Levin said, “for why we might not actually see all of this (demand) materialize.
Marc Levy, Associated Press
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On Valentines Day 2025, heavy rains started to fall in parts of rural Appalachia. Over the course of a few days, residents in eastern Kentucky watched as river levels rose and surpassed flood levels. Emergency teams conducted over 1,000 water rescues. Hundreds, if not thousands of people were displaced from homes, and entire business districts filled with mud.
For some, it was the third time in just four years that their homes had flooded, and the process of disposing of destroyed furniture, cleaning out the muck and starting anew is beginning again.
Historic floods wiped out businesses and homes in eastern Kentucky in February 2021, July 2022 and now February 2025. An even greater scale of destruction hit eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina in September 2024, when Hurricane Helenes rainfall and flooding decimated towns and washed out parts of major highways.
Each of these events was considered to be a thousand-year flood, with a 1-in-1,000 chance of happening in a given year. Yet theyre happening more often.
The floods have highlighted the resilience of local people to work together for collective survival in rural Appalachia. But they have also exposed the deep vulnerability of communities, many of which are located along creeks at the base of hills and mountains with poor emergency warning systems. As short-term cleanup leads to long-term recovery efforts, residents can face daunting barriers that leave many facing the same flood risks over and over again.
Exposing a housing crisis
For the past nine years, I have been conducting research on rural health and poverty in Appalachia. Its a complex region often painted in broad brushstrokes that miss the geographic, socioeconomic and ideological diversity it holds.
Appalachia is home to a vibrant culture, a fierce sense of pride and a strong sense of love. But it is also marked by the omnipresent backdrop of a declining coal industry.
There is considerable local inequality that is often overlooked in a region portrayed as one-dimensional. Poverty levels are indeed high. In Perry County, Kentucky, where one of eastern Kentuckys larger cities, Hazard, is located, nearly 30% of the population lives under the federal poverty line. But the average income of the top 1% of workers in Perry County is nearly US$470,000 17 times more than the average income of the remaining 99%.
This income and wealth inequality translates to unequal land ownership much of eastern Kentuckys most desirable land remains in the hands of corporations and families with great generational wealth.
When I first moved to eastern Kentucky in 2016, I was struck by the grave lack of affordable, quality housing. I met families paying $200-$300 a month for a small plot to put a mobile home. Others lived in found housing often-distressed properties owned by family members. They had no lease, no equity and no insurance. They had a place to lay ones head but lacked long-term stability in the event of disagreement or disaster. This reality was rarely acknowledged by local and state governments.
Eastern Kentuckys 2021 and 2022 floods turned this into a full-blown housing crisis, with 9,000 homes damaged or destroyed in the 2022 flood alone.
There was no empty housing or empty places for housing, one resident involved in local flood recovery efforts told me. It just was complete disaster because people just didnt have a place to go.
Most homeowners did not have flood insurance to assist with rebuilding costs. While many applied to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance, the amounts they received often did not go far. The maximum aid for temporary housing assistance and repairs is $42,500, plus up to an additional $42,500 for other needs related to the disaster.
The federal government often provides more aid for rebuilding through block grants directed to local and state governments, but that money requires congressional approval and can take months to years to arrive. Local community coalitions and organizations stepped in to fill these gaps, but they did not necessarily have sufficient donations or resources to help such large numbers of displaced people.
With a dearth of affordable rentals pre-flood, renters who lost their homes had no place to go. And those living in found housing that was destroyed were not eligible for federal support or rebuilding.
The sheer level of devastation also posed challenges. One health care professional told me: In Appalachia, the way it usually works is if you lose your house or something happens, then you go stay with your brother or your mom or your cousin. But everybodys mom and brother and cousin also lost their house. There was nowhere to stay. From her point of view, our homelessness just skyrocketed.
The cost of land social and economic
After the 2022 flood, the Kentucky Department for Local Government earmarked almost $300 million of federal funding to build new, flood-resilient homes in eastern Kentucky. Yet the question of where to build remained. As another resident involved in local flood recovery efforts told me, You can give us all the money you want; we dont have any place to build the house.
It has always been costly and time-intensive to develop land in Appalachia. Available higher ground tends to be located on former strip mines, and these reclaimed lands require careful geotechnical surveying and sometimes structural reinforcements.
If these areas are remote, the costs of running electric, water and other infrastructure services can also be prohibitive. For this reason, for-profit developers have largely avoided many counties in the region. The head of a nonprofit agency explained to me that, because of this, The markets have broken. We have no [housing] market.
There is also some risk involved in attempting to build homes on new land that has not previously been developed. A local government could pay for undeveloped land to be surveyed and prepared for development, with the prospect of reimbursement by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development if housing is successfully built. But if, after the work to prepare the land, it is still too cost-prohibitive to build a profitable house there, the local government would not receive any reimbursement.
Some counties have found success clearing land for large developments on former strip mine sites. But these former coal mining areas can be considerable distances from towns. Without robust public transportation systems, these distances are especially prohibitive for residents who lack reliable personal transportation.
Another barrier is the high prices that both individual and corporate landowners are asking for properties on higher ground.
The scarcity of desirable land available for sale, combined with increasingly urgent demand, has led to prices unaffordable for most. Another resident involved in local flood recovery efforts explained: If you paid $5,000 for 30 acres 40 years ago, why wont you sell that for $100,000? Nope, [they want] $1 million. That makes it increasingly difficult for both individuals and housing developers to purchase land and build.
One reason for this scarcity is the amount of land that is still owned by outside corporate interests. For example, Kentucky River Properties, formerly Kentucky River Coal Corporation, owns over 270,000 acres across seven counties in the region. While this landholding company leases land to coal, timber and gas companies, it and others like it rarely permit residential development.
But not all unused land is owned by corporations. Some of this land is owned by families with deep roots in the region. Peoples attachment to a place often makes them want to stay in their communities, even after disasters. But it can also limit the amount of land available for rebuilding. People are often hesitant to sell land that holds deep significance for their families, even if they are not living there themselves.
One health care professional expressed feeling torn between selling or keeping their own family property after the 2022 flood: We have a significant amount of property on top of a mountain. I wouldnt want to sell it because my papa came from nothing. His generation thought owning land was the greatest thing. And for him to provide his children and his grandchildren and their great-grandchildren a plot of land that he worked and sweat and ultimately died to give us people want to hold onto that.
She recognized that land was in great demand but couldnt bring herself to sell what she owned. In cases like hers, higher grounds are owned locally but still remain unused.
Moving toward higher ground, slowly
Two years after the 2022 flood, major government funding for rebuilding still has not resulted in a significant number of homes. The state has planned seven communities on higher ground in eastern Kentucky that aim to house 665 new homes. As of early 2025, 14 houses had been completed.
Progress on providing housing on higher ground is slow, and the need is great.
In the meantime, when I conducted interviews during the summer and fall of 2024, many of the mobile home communities that were decimated in the 2022 flood had begun to fill back up. These were flood-risk areas, but there was simply no other place to go.
Last week, I watched on Facebook a friends live video footage showing the waters creeping up the sides of the mobile homes in one of those very communities that had flooded in 2022. Another of my friends mused: I dont know who constructed all this, but they did an unjustly favor by not thinking how close these towns was to the river. Cant anyone in Frankfort help us, or has it gone too far?
With hundreds more people now displaced by the most recent flood, the need for homes on higher grounds has only expanded, and the wait continues.
Kristina P. Brant is an assistant professor of rural sociology at Penn State.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
