Former EPA officials call for stronger data-centre safeguards

The Environmental Protection Network, an organization of former EPA employees, is calling for stronger safeguards as data centres expand. Its September 10 report identifies thirty federal actions that its authors say increase pollution risks or weaken oversight. [1]

The organization says risks extend beyond computing facilities to the power plants supplying them. It calls for more measurement, public information and enforcement. This assessment belongs to the report’s authors. [1]

In its September 12 article, The Verge also includes EPA’s response. The agency says its decisions restore a proper interpretation of the Clean Air Act and that it maintains its mission of protecting health and the environment. [2]

The prospective health figures cited in this debate depend on growth and emissions scenarios. They are not a count of deaths already observed or a measurement isolating the effect of the thirty federal actions. That distinction matters when interpreting the disagreement. [2]

A July 2025 statement by Lee Zeldin published by EPA sets out the administration’s rationale: facilitate permitting and energy supply to develop American AI while affirming environmental protection. It provides earlier policy context, rather than a new response to the report. [3]