Wind turbines and solar fields replacing fossil fuel infrastructure toward the horizon

KOMOR FOR COLORADO — ENERGY & CLIMATE

Independent write-in candidate and climate scientist Christian Komor calls on Colorado to bet on carbon removal and clean firm power — not 30 more years of gas. DENVER, CO — July 19, 2026

The artificial-intelligence boom and the war with Iran are converging on a single outcome: a deeper, longer commitment to fossil fuels. Dr. Christian Komor, an earth systems scientist and Independent write-in candidate for Colorado Governor, says the state can either absorb the consequences or lead the alternative. AI’s hunger for electricity is driving the largest construction boom of natural-gas power plants in U.S. history. At least 74 gas plants are proposed to power data centers directly, with combined emissions rivaling those of Australia or France.1 Microsoft signed a 20-year deal for a 2.7-gigawatt gas plant in West Texas; a former Pennsylvania coal plant is being reborn as a 4.5-gigawatt gas-powered AI campus.2 U.S. gas-fired capacity in development nearly tripled in 2025 to roughly 252 gigawatts.3 Each plant is a 20- to 30-year bet on burning gas. Meanwhile the Iran war has disrupted the Strait of Hormuz — a conduit for about a fifth of the world’s oil and LNG — pushing Brent crude toward $86 and delivering billions in windfall to oil majors.4 Yet those majors are declining to drill more, calling the windfall temporary — a signal that the market expects the disruption to pass while the gas plants will not.5 The lock-in is global: New Zealand reversed its offshore exploration ban; Europe replaced Russian pipeline gas with LNG imports; Shell’s own scenarios project higher fossil use and roughly 10% more CO₂ over two decades.6 And in Washington, a reported 43 fossil-fuel industry insiders sit among the administration’s energy and environmental appointees.7

“Every gas turbine we bolt to a data center is a 30-year bet against the climate — and against Colorado ratepayers,” Komor said. “We can either get pulled into decades more fossil dependency, or we can be the state that builds the way out: direct air carbon removal, clean firm power, and an energy economy no foreign war can disrupt.”

Komor’s platform centers on scaling direct air capture and biochar carbon removal, optimizing Colorado’s geothermal potential, modernizing forest and land management to cut wildfire risk, and a “Safe to Learn” schools initiative — governed free of the oil-industry influence that permeates both major parties. As a write-in Independent, he takes no party money and is bound to neither party machine. “Colorado doesn’t have to choose between affordable power and a livable climate,” Komor said. “But we do have to choose who’s writing our energy policy — voters, or the same fossil-fuel interests that have been writing it for both parties for decades.”

About Christian Komor

Dr. Christian Komor is an earth systems scientist and Independent write-in candidate for Colorado Governor in 2026. His campaign centers on carbon removal, climate resilience, and independence from party and corporate capture. Learn more at k4gov.com.

Sources

1. Reuters, “Gas plants for US data centers to be major source of climate-linked emissions,” July 1, 2026. reuters.com

2. TechCrunch, “Microsoft and Chevron plan one of the largest gas-powered data center projects in US,” June 22, 2026. techcrunch.com; Data Center Dynamics, “Homer City … 4.5GW natural gas powered AI data center,” July 6, 2026. datacenterdynamics.com

3. IDCNOVA, “AI Data Center Developers Build On-Site Gas Plants to Bypass the Grid,” June 2026. idcnova.com

4. Al Jazeera, “Oil hits 1-month high as US-Iran fighting clouds Strait of Hormuz outlook,” July 14, 2026. aljazeera.com; Reuters, July 14, 2026. reuters.com

5. NY Post, “Oil giants to gain billions from Iran war but won’t ramp up drilling,” July 10, 2026. nypost.com; Financial Times, “Iran war windfall puts Big Oil on collision course with Trump,” July 9, 2026. ft.com

6. NZ Newswire, “Government opens a fifth petroleum exploration bid off Taranaki,” July 9, 2026. newswire.co.nz; Energy Institute, “Statistical Review of World Energy 2026.” emi-bg.com; Shell, “2026 Energy Security Scenarios.” shell.com

7.  SEJ, “New Report Examines Fossil Fuel Ties of Dozens of Trump Admin Hires,” Oct 2025. sej.org