An independent group made up of former EPA employees has issued a report warning that President Donald Trump’s drive to loosen environmental regulations endangers public health, as the administration presses forward with quicker construction of AI data centers. The Environmental Protection Network, an independent organization through which the ex-agency staff work, identified 30 federal actions taken since January 2025 that they claim increase health risks linked to data center pollution.
As they put it, the issue at hand is straightforward: an agency tasked with protecting human health and the environment has stopped functioning as a guardian. Rather than standing watch, it now places industry interests ahead of all else, removing restrictions on toxic chemicals and harmful pollutants in the process.
Government decisions today determine whether a more polluting buildout happens or not, according to the report’s authors.
What the Rollback Spree Looks Like
At the start of his term, Trump’s EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, made “making America the AI capital of the world” through deregulation his goal. Since then, Zeldin and the White House have cut staff and funding at the US EPA while rolling back dozens of rules.
Since January 2025, the report has tracked 30 federal actions, with 17 of them explicitly mentioning AI or targeting data centers. These actions cover executive moves and proposals aimed at slowing down renewable energy projects, weakening pollution controls, and allowing existing power plants and factories to escape certain standards.
Trump released an “AI Action Plan” in July 2025 that recommends “streamlining or reducing regulations” under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Superfund law to move permitting along for data center projects and chip factories. Tyson Slocum, energy program director at the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, told The Verge at the time that the plan was using “unprecedented emergency powers to grant massive new exemptions for data centers and specifically fossil fuel infrastructure.”
Pollution Travels Far From Data Centers
Pollution from data centers doesn’t stay close to where it comes from. It can spread far beyond the area around a facility, according to the report’s authors.
“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,” the report quotes Goldman as saying.
A study from UC Riverside, Caltech, and the Rochester Institute of Technology has found that air pollution linked to AI could cause up to 1,300 premature deaths and cost the public more than $20 billion in health expenses by 2028. The organization says the toll could become even greater when taking into account the policy changes described in the report.
A Letter From Current Staff
A large number of people currently employed by the EPA wrote a letter for all to see last year, directed at Zeldin. They stated that under his management, the agency would fail to guard communities against dangerous substances and unsafe drinking water. Instead, they argued, the risk to public health and safety would rise.
A wider change in how the agency works is also described in the report. The former staff members say that a more polluting expansion is not unavoidable — it rests on the decisions government makes today.
EPN’s senior director of public affairs, Marc Boom, told reporters during the briefing that the EPA should be tracking how this buildout alters pollution, identifying who is being exposed, evaluating what it means for their health, and publishing all of that data. He said that is what a Data Center Health Protection Pledge should actually deliver in practice.
The Agency’s Defense
In an email sent to The Verge, a spokesperson for the EPA named Cora Mandy responded to the report. Her message defended how the current administration has handled things.
“In each action EPA has taken, the agency has returned regulations to the best reading of the Clean Air Act after years of overreach by previous administrations,” Mandy said. She also repeated the agency’s stated commitment to “Protect Human Health and The Environment” while prioritizing “Making America the AI Capital of the World.”
What the Alumni Want
These former EPA officials are working toward what they refer to as a “Data Center Health Protection Pledge.”, with the aim of showing that the administration regards the environmental danger as a genuine priority.
The document makes plain that the body which once watched over human health and the environment now treats industrial interests as its top priority, rolling back restrictions on toxic chemicals and harmful pollutants rather than protecting people and the natural world.
There is much at risk here. If a buildout runs on dirty energy, it could result in up to 1,300 premature deaths and more than $20 billion in public health costs by 2028. According to the report’s authors, these losses do not have to happen — provided the government acts now.
Key Facts Box
- 30 federal actions: since January 2025, per the report
- 17 of 30: specifically mention AI or target data centers
- $20 billion: estimated public health costs by 2028, per the cited study
- Up to 1,300: premature deaths tied to AI air pollution, per the cited study
- July 2025: date of Trump’s AI Action Plan
The Kinds of Actions in the Report
The report’s 30 actions cover several kinds of policy changes:
- Executive actions and proposals aimed at curbing renewable energy projects
- Softening of pollution regulations
- Exemptions for existing power plants and factories from certain standards
- Actions targeting AI data centers and chip factories directly
The report’s authors are asking for a pledge, a signal that the administration takes the threat seriously. For now, the agency’s response is that it is returning regulations to what it calls the best reading of the Clean Air Act.
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