The state’s Department of Environmental Quality would expand permissible uses during emergencies to include “planned outages” by grid operators, presumably for power line upgrades. Environmentalists say that with expanded use of diesel generators comes more harmful air pollutants and more greenhouse gases.By Charles PaullinThis past summer, a fire at an electrical substation forced data centers in Loudoun County to rely on backup diesel generators as their power source.
Observations from the Little Bunker
Last updated: December 15, 2025 10:10 PM
Atmospheric CO₂
427.2 ppm
+17.7
ppm/year
Atmospheric CH₄
1930.95 ppb
+-3.5
ppb/year
Global Temperature
+1.48 °C
Peak: +1.73°C
World Population
8.1 billion
+67
million/year