Trump is giving data centers a pass to pollute
Former EPA officials are warning that the Trump administration's deregulation of environmental standards to accelerate AI data center construction poses significant health risks. They are calling for a 'Data Center Health Protection Pledge' to address the environmental impact of the industry's rapid expansion.
Why it matters
This highlights the growing tension between the rapid infrastructure demands of the AI boom and the preservation of environmental and public health regulations.
President Donald Trump is weakening environmental regulations in the name of speeding up the construction of AI data centers, raising health risks for Americans, a cadre of former EPA officials said this week in a briefing and new report. They are urging — perhaps futilely — the president to adopt a “Data Center Health Protection Pledge” to signal that the administration is taking the environmental threat seriously.
At the start of his term, Trump’s EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, proclaimed his goal of making America “the AI capital of the world” through deregulation. Since then, Zeldin and the White House have rolled back dozens of rules on top of cutting staff and funding at the US EPA.
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