NEW YORK — Amazon's chief sustainability officer said the tech giant is still committed to its climate goals despite moving ahead with what would be one of the country's biggest natural gas plants.

Why it matters: The comments lay bare the tension between tech giants' race to build the vast energy infrastructure needed for AI and climate goals they set years before the AI boom.

Catch up quick: Amazon plans to power a massive AI data center campus in West Texas with up to 7.65 gigawatts of on-site natural gas generation, along with solar and batteries.

• The campus would initially operate independently from the Texas power grid, though Amazon says it is designed to eventually connect as protracted connection timelines allow.
• Amazon has said the approach means it will pay the full cost of powering the campus rather than raising electricity costs for Texas consumers, though that argument is contested.

Driving the news: "We are still committed to our climate pledge," Kara Hurst, Amazon's top sustainability official, said on stage at Axios House in New York on Monday. "We will procure clean energy where and whenever possible ... and we will continue to grow our business."

Hurst's comments were her first public remarks on the project since it was reported. She also acknowledged Amazon doesn't yet know all the ways it will reach its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

• "I'm not going to sit here and say we know all the ways that we're going to do this, and it's not going to be an easy, linear path. It is not."
• "It is challenging, but we are going to do everything we can to strive to go at that timeline with speed and with intention, and to hit it."

Flashback: Amazon made its climate pledge in 2019. Hurst said the company's business then nearly doubled during the pandemic, followed by supply-chain disruptions and now the AI boom.

• "So there is always something that is going to change our ability, how we think about that goal, potentially our ability to meet it."

Context: Hurst was in New York to announce Amazon would commit $20 million to a new corporate initiative seeking to mobilize $100 million for water conservation in the stressed Colorado River Basin.

State of play: The Texas plant's plan to operate independently from the grid, at least initially, illustrates one of the starkest debates in the energy industry right now: whether data centers should build their own power supplies or remain connected to the broader grid.

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Major industry groups — behind the scenes and in public messaging — are scrambling to discourage President Trump from pausing U.S. diesel exports.

Why it matters: Trump yesterday said he favors a ban for the first time, even though his top energy officials have argued it's not a solution for high prices.

Yes, but: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was more equivocal, telling reporters the administration is examining whether it's feasible and "whether a full or a partial ban would work."

What we're watching: Powerful K Street oil and business groups yesterday issued fresh statements against the idea, which has gained traction among GOP candidates in recent days.

• Opponents include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the American Petroleum Institute, the National Association of Manufacturers, and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers.

Zoom out: Many economists and energy analysts say a ban might lower U.S. prices in the near term, but would ultimately backfire.

• "An export ban would shove that diesel back into a domestic market that's already well supplied, risking refinery run cuts, while doing nothing about the global shortage that is actually the mechanism leading diesel prices to record levels," writes Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

What we're watching: When asked about the timeline for a decision, Trump told reporters in New York: "Fast, one way or the other."

The global scramble to secure fuel supplies — diesel, above all — is supercharging profit expectations for refineries.

Why it matters: While painful at the pump, surging fuel prices have made refinery stocks a bright spot for the market.

• Of the 126 subindustry groups represented in the S&P 500, oil and gas refining and marketing is by far the best performer of 2026, rising 145.4% through Friday's close, according to FactSet data.

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🤹 There are lots of balls in the air on a Capitol Hill permitting deal as negotiations roll on.

• Catch up quick: Jarrod Agen, a top White House energy aide, told Amy onstage at Climate Week NYC that Trump officials want provisions on protecting ratepayers from the costs of the AI buildout. But specifics remain elusive.
• The intrigue: Politico reports that President Trump is willing to ease the bottleneck facing onshore wind project approvals in order to secure a legislative deal.
• What we're watching: Agen also listed judicial changes among the bottom lines for the White House, arguing that mining projects, for instance, should be able to move forward while they're in litigation.

⚛️ Commonwealth Fusion Systems has been in discussions with the Energy Department's loan office as the prominent fusion company moves closer to commercializing its tech, CEO Bob Mumgaard said.

• The big picture: "Anything that's a tool that allows first-of-a-kind financing is very interesting," he said at Axios House at Climate Week NYC, calling it "catalytic" for other capital. The company tells me it has had on-and-off talks with the loan office that have spanned multiple administrations.
• Catch up quick: CFS is building a demonstration project in Massachusetts and planning a commercial-scale plant in Virginia it hopes to have online in the early 2030s, with Google already signed on as a customer. Full interview

⚖️ A Michigan federal judge dismissed a state climate lawsuit against oil giants. The unusual antitrust case alleged that over decades, an industry "cartel" suppressed clean energy, bringing climate-related harms.

• What we're watching: The office of state AG Dana Nessel said it's considering its options, the NYT reports.

⚖️ Via Stateline, "An eight-state coalition filed lawsuits Tuesday challenging the Trump administration's payments to private companies to cancel offshore wind leases, escalating an ongoing legal battle over the government spending billions of dollars to block wind projects."

That's the record amount of U.S. new energy storage installed in the second quarter, per new data from Wood Mackenzie and the American Clean Power Association.

• The 17% year-over-year rise came despite a dip in the amount of new power capacity added, which reflects a shift toward systems that can discharge power for longer periods.
• Full analysis