Trump's push to ease data center rules could harm Americans
What's the story
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials have warned that President Donald Trump's efforts to fast-track the construction of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers are weakening environmental regulations. The move, they say, could pose health risks for Americans. The group is urging Trump to adopt a "Data Center Health Protection Pledge" to show that his administration is taking the potential environmental threat seriously.
Deregulation consequences
Surge in AI data centers
At the beginning of his presidency, Trump's EPA chief Lee Zeldin had vowed to make America "the AI capital of the world" through deregulation.
Since then, Zeldin and the White House have rolled back dozens of rules while also cutting staff and funding at the US EPA.
This has led to a surge in new AI data centers powered by dirty energy sources that could affect Americans's health even if they don't live near these facilities.
Criticism
EPA prioritizing industry needs over public health?
Lynn Goldman, a pediatrician and former EPA assistant administrator, criticized the lack of vigilance from the EPA in light of this industry buildout.
She said, "You would think that an industry buildout of this magnitude, billed as a revolution, would mean more vigilance from EPA."
However, she claimed that instead of being proactive about potential health risks posed by data centers and their pollution emissions, the agency is prioritizing industry needs over public health.
Report findings
Report details federal actions worsening health risks
Goldman and other former EPA officials, now part of the independent group Environmental Protection Network, published a report detailing 30 federal actions since January 2025 that they claim worsen health risks from data center pollution.
These include executive actions and proposals aimed at curtailing renewable energy projects while relaxing pollution standards and exempting existing power plants and factories from certain requirements.
Policy changes
Trump's AI action plan
In July 2025, Trump unveiled an "AI Action Plan" that proposed "streamlining or reducing regulations" under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Superfund law.
The aim was to speed up permitting for data center projects and chip factories.
Tyson Slocum, energy program director at the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said "What the AI plan is really about [is] using unprecedented emergency powers to grant massive new exemptions for data centers and specifically fossil fuel infrastructure."
Pollution concerns
New gas projects, 'forever chemicals'
Trump's policies have effectively paved the way for new gas projects to power energy-hungry data centers, including on-site turbines and dedicated power plants for tech companies.
Meanwhile, the demand for advanced chips needed for generative AI is reviving the production of forever chemicals that don't break down easily and build up in the environment and human bodies.
All this new infrastructure could spread pollution far beyond these facilities.
Health risks
Health costs of AI-related air pollution
A study by UC Riverside, Caltech, and the Rochester Institute of Technology found that AI-related air pollution could cause up to 1,300 premature deaths and more than $20 billion in public health costs by 2028.
The toll could be even higher considering the policy changes detailed in EPN's report.
The US can avoid these losses by restoring clean air and water standards and rebuilding federal agencies' capacity to enforce those rules.