Former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials have raised alarms over President Donald Trump’s deregulation of AI data centers, warning that it poses significant health risks to Americans. In a recent briefing, they urged the administration to adopt a “Data Center Health Protection Pledge” to address these concerns, as detailed in a report from the Environmental Protection Network.
Deregulation and Health Risks
Since the beginning of his term, Trump’s EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, has aimed to position the U.S. as “the AI capital of the world” through extensive deregulation. This has included rolling back numerous environmental protections and cutting funding and staffing at the EPA. As a result, the surge in AI data centers is increasingly reliant on non-renewable energy sources, which can adversely affect public health, even for those living far from these facilities.
Lynn Goldman, a pediatrician and former EPA assistant administrator, expressed concern, stating, “You would think that an industry buildout of this magnitude, billed as a revolution, would mean more vigilance from EPA. Instead, EPA is doing just the opposite, thinking first about industry’s needs and weakening or reconsidering limits on toxic chemicals and harmful pollutants.”
Policy Changes and Environmental Impact
The report highlights 30 federal actions taken since January 2025 that exacerbate health risks linked to data center pollution. These include executive actions aimed at curtailing renewable energy projects and softening pollution regulations. Notably, 17 of these policy changes specifically mention AI or target data centers.
Trump’s “AI Action Plan,” released in July 2025, recommended streamlining regulations under the Clean Air Act and other environmental laws to expedite permitting for data center projects. Tyson Slocum, energy program director at Public Citizen, criticized this approach, stating, “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.”
Public Health Concerns
The implications of these policy changes could be severe. A study from UC Riverside, Caltech, and the Rochester Institute of Technology estimates that air pollution associated with AI could lead to up to 1,300 premature deaths and over $20 billion in public health costs by 2028. The report argues that restoring clean air and water standards could mitigate these risks.
Goldman emphasized that pollution from data centers can affect individuals far beyond their immediate vicinity, stating, “You do not need to be near a data center to be affected, because the pollution doesn’t just come from the data centers themselves.”
In response to the report, EPA spokesperson Cora Mandy stated that the agency has returned regulations to the best interpretation of the Clean Air Act after years of overreach by previous administrations, while also prioritizing the goal of making America the AI capital of the world.
For further details, you can read the full report on The Verge.
Readers can also explore current and upcoming editions through the FAME Delivered magazine section.
