Over the past year, Meta has funded at least a dozen natural gas power plants, including one that will generate as much electricity as South Dakota uses. But now the company is no longer part of RE100, a corporate renewable energy initiative it joined over a decade ago.

The exit from RE100 comes after months of Meta expanding its investment in fossil fuels to power AI data centers, raising questions about what ‘clean energy’ means for a company that continues to build gas plants while still calling itself renewable.

While natural gas burns more cleanly than coal, it still produces significant pollution. A single 1-gigawatt data center running on natural gas will release harmful pollutants every year, contributing to various diseases and public health issues.

The departure from RE100 highlights the growing divide between tech companies’ rhetoric on sustainability and their actual practices, as other giants like Apple and Google maintain their commitment to 100% renewable energy goals.