Since January 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has rolled back more than 30 pollution safeguards tied to the booming data center industry that powers artificial intelligence (AI), according to a new report from former EPA officials now with the Environmental Protection Network. Nearly 3,000 data centers already operate across the United States, with over 1,500 more in the planning stages.

The EPA has proposed letting developers start building data centers and the power plants that run them before they even secure air pollution permits. Coal plants that were scheduled to retire are being kept online to meet the industry's massive energy demand, and regulations on onsite fossil fuel turbines are being eased. Meanwhile, the agency has dismantled its main research office and told enforcement staff to avoid actions that could disrupt energy production.

The consequences fall on the families who live near this infrastructure. One study cited in the report estimates that pollution linked to the AI boom could contribute to as many as 1,300 additional deaths per year. Physician and former EPA official Dr. Lynn Goldman warns some effects, like heart attacks and premature births, could show up quickly, while others, like cancer, may take years to surface. "The AI industry's race for advantage should not be a matter of life or death. Families shouldn't have to pay for the AI boom with their health," Goldman said.

Communities deserve real pollution permits before construction begins, not after the damage is done. The EPA should restore the safeguards it has stripped away and require full environmental review before any data center or power plant breaks ground.

Sign the petition to demand the EPA require pollution permits before data centers are built, not after families start getting sick.