Environment | The Verge

Data centers are coming for rural America

2026-05-12T22:08:42-04:00

At its peak, the Androscoggin paper mill in Jay, Maine, a rural town about 67 miles northwest of Portland, employed about 1,500 people - until a pulp digester exploded in 2020, forcing the mill to close permanently.

In 2023, the 1.4 million-square-foot facility was purchased through a joint venture by JGT2 Redevelopment and a number of other holding and capital companies. The project is led by developer Tony McDonald. Over the next three years, McDonald and his team broke down the mill's machinery and shipped it to Pakistan, and worked to clean up the industrial site for resale. That resale agreement was finalized earlier this year, accord …

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All the latest updates on AI data centers

2026-05-13T14:33:29-04:00

Massive new data centers are the physical foundation for tech companies’ hopes and dreams for AI. But the rush to expand warehouses full of energy-hungry servers has also kicked up fights across the world over their impact on power grids, utility bills, nearby communities, and the environment.

From audacious plans to launch data centers into space to the latest legal battles over pollution, The Verge has the biggest news and reporting surrounding data centers.

A new manufacturing process uses lasers to seal paper packaging instead of glue

2026-03-30T12:33:06-04:00

A simple paper envelope made without additional glue or plastic to seal three of its sides. | Image: Fraunhofer IVV

Although paper is a more environmentally friendly packaging material than plastic, it's often contaminated with additives, such as adhesives used to create a secure seal. That complicates the recycling process and reduces the quality of recycled paper. Now, German researchers at four Fraunhofer institutes have developed an alternative process that can seal paper packaging without glue or plastic using a carbon monoxide laser.

The new system, currently called the Papure project, leverages the expertise of the Fraunhofer institutes, each of which focuses on areas such as polymer research, engineering and packaging, and laser beam technologies …

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These retractable studded tires might save our roads, ears, and lungs

2026-04-13T12:35:42-04:00

If you want to feel truly invincible when driving in the snow, you need a set of studded snow tires. They're illegal in some places, typically restricted to the frigid months of the year in others. Spring for a set, though, and they'll see you through the worst, slipperiest, snowiest driving conditions you can imagine.

They come at a pretty substantial cost, though, and I'm not just talking about a financial one. Yes, quality tires with embedded tungsten tips are generally far pricier than your average bargain rubber with snowflakes on the sidewall. The bigger issue, though, is that they can be extremely loud and are substantially worse for …

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European retailers yank popular headphones after study reports trace amounts of hormone-disrupting chemicals

2026-03-29T12:05:22-04:00

Some European retailers have stopped selling certain headphones after an EU-funded study found that they contained hormone-disrupting chemicals.

The study included leading brands such as Apple, Beats, Samsung, Bose, JBL, and Sennheiser. Retailers Bol.com, Coolblue, and Mediamarkt didn't respond to inquiries from The Verge about which headphones they pulled, but local news outlets report that they're among the sellers that have decided to yank some of the worst-scoring models off the market.

The study authors analyzed 81 different types of headphones, and found that all of them contained at least traces of harmful chemicals including bis …

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Trump claims tech companies will sign deals next week to pay for their own power supply

2026-02-26T05:51:59-05:00

President Donald Trump tried to quell Americans' concerns about rising electricity costs during his State of the Union speech - and now we're learning that the deals he promised could land next week. Trump claimed that he's negotiated a "rate payer protection pledge" with major tech companies, which would see them build out or pay for new electricity generation for their data centers. Leaders from Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, xAI, Oracle and OpenAI are expected to attend a March 4th event to sign the pledge, Fox News reported today.

There are very few details at this point on what the pledge entails, nor how companies would be held ac …

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Trump is making coal plants even dirtier as AI demands more energy

2026-02-26T10:48:11-05:00

Kingston Fossil Plant, a 1.4-gigawatt coal-fired power plant located in Roane County, just outside Kingston, Tennessee on the shore of Watts Bar Lake. | Photo: Getty Images

The Trump administration just tossed out Biden-era restrictions on mercury and other toxic pollutants from power plants. It's repealing Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) just as electricity demand in the US ticks up with the buildout of new AI data centers.

Those standards are particularly impactful when it comes to pollution from coal plants responsible for around half of mercury emissions in the US. Mercury is a neurotoxin; high exposure has been linked to birth defects and learning disabilities in children. Exposure can also impact the kidneys and nervous system.

Trump's deregulation spree aims to make it easier to quickly constr …

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In one swoop, Trump kills US greenhouse gas regulations

2026-02-12T14:35:41-05:00

Exhaust billows out of a car tailpipe on January 2nd, 2008, in San Francisco. | Photo: Getty Images

The Trump administration just eliminated the landmark finding that has underpinned federal regulations on planet-heating pollution since 2009.

For nearly the past two decades, the "endangerment finding" has allowed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to craft rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Rather than repealing those rules individually, the Trump administration can undermine them all at once by attacking the endangerment finding.

Today, the EPA finalized its plans to overturn the endangerment finding as part of its attempts to overhaul tailpipe pollution standards. The move could also affect efforts …

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How an ‘icepocalypse’ raises more questions about Meta’s biggest data center project

2026-02-11T09:06:11-05:00

Donna Collins lives about 20 miles from where Meta's biggest data center is being built, in a house her family has lived in for five generations. Construction has thrown the small agricultural community in North Louisiana into the spotlight as a high-profile example of how the infrastructure behind generative AI could impact nearby residents.

For Collins, this place is "a little piece of heaven." "It's all I've ever known as a home. It's quiet. It's rural. It is beautiful," she says. "We can't imagine the changes that are coming."

The region was particularly hard-hit by the recent cold snap that knocked out power for hundreds of thousands …

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It’s a new heyday for gas thanks to data centers

2026-01-30T10:51:32-05:00

Gas turbines at the on-site natural gas plant under construction during a media tour of the Stargate AI data center in Abilene, Texas, US, on Sept. 24, 2025. | Photo: Getty Images

The US is now leading a global surge in new gas power plants being built in large part to satisfy growing energy demand for data centers. And more gas means more planet-heating pollution.

Gas-fired power generation in development globally rose by 31 percent in 2025. Almost a quarter of that added capacity is slated for the US, which has surpassed China with the biggest increase of any country. More than a third of that growth in the US is expected to directly power data centers, according to a recent analysis by the nonprofit Global Energy Monitor (GEM).

More gas means more planet-heating pollution

The rush to install more powerful hardwa …

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