Data Centers and CO2 Pipelines
Data centers and CO2 pipelines aren't just similar. Sometimes they're the same company.
Google's own site-selection process for a data center power deal named Tallgrass's CO2 sequestration hub as a deciding factor. The same company that put a compressor station 951 ft from our front door — no local permit required, no say for us — is now marketing that same CO2 infrastructure to Big Tech.
And taxpayers are funding both ends of it. States have handed data centers billions in tax breaks — Indiana alone gave Amazon an $8.2 billion package, Virginia loses $1.6 billion a year. Meanwhile the federal 45Q credit pays up to $85 per metric ton to build the gas plants and CO2 pipelines that power them, run through infrastructure never built to carry CO2 in the first place.
Public money. Private profit. Families like ours left holding the risk.
If it's critical enough to override where people live, it's critical enough to answer to the people it displaces.
Sources:
Google/Tallgrass CO2 hub: Utility Dive, "Google just backed carbon capture tech for data center energy providers" — utilitydive.com/news/google-carbon-capture-ccs-data-center-payne/804963
Indiana/Amazon $8.2B, Virginia $1.6B/yr: Business Model Analyst, "Data Center Tax Incentives by State (2026)" — businessmodelanalyst.com/data-center-tax-incentives-by-state
45Q credit up to $85/metric ton: Carbon Direct, "Natural gas with carbon capture: An economic solution for AI's power needs" — carbon-direct.com/insights/natural-gas-with-carbon-capture-an-economic-solution-for-ai-s-power-needs
