A.I. Data Center Pollution Poses Health Threat, Former E.P.A. Officials Warn

A group representing more than 800 former employees of the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday sounded the alarm over the health consequences of data centers. It warned that Trump administration policies to weaken pollution safeguards and speed up approvals of the facilities threatened to exacerbate those health harms.

In a report released Thursday, the nonprofit Environmental Protection Network examined pollution from power plants, gas turbines and diesel generators needed to meet data centers’ surging electricity demand. And it listed 30 federal actions taken by the Trump administration that it warned would increase pollution-related health risks as more data centers open across the country.

The report builds on modeling from academic researchers that projects that air pollution from data centers could contribute to roughly 600,000 asthma symptom cases, 1,300 premature deaths and more than $20 billion in annual public health costs by 2028. But the former E.P.A. employees note that these estimates do not account for the rollback of environmental regulations under the Trump administration, which could further increase emissions and health risks.

“What concerns me now is the role E.P.A. and other government agencies are playing and proudly touting: weakening the very safeguards designed to protect people from the pollution in the name of helping tech and power companies accelerate these data center build outs,” said Dr. Lynn Goldman, a pediatrician and former E.P.A. assistant administrator and a member of the group.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/10/climate/ai-data-centers-air-pollution-health.html