Earlier this month, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a proposal that would allow data centers, power plants, and other industries to begin construction on new facilities prior to obtaining federal air permits: regulations that have long been mandatory under the Clean Air Act. In his response to Trump’s newest EPA proposition, John Walke, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council argues that the proposal would “allow the country’s biggest polluters to break ground on new facilities before anyone determines the health impacts on the families nearby.” Walke further claims that this political move would make it more difficult to reverse course on infrastructural projects once millions of dollars have been invested and construction has already begun, making it so major industry polluters can “build first and ask permission later.”
This recent proposal from Trump’s EPA emerges as thousands of data center projects are taking root throughout the U.S. to meet the demands of a supposed “AI Revolution.” Current EPA Administrator, Lee Zeldin, alleges that this proposition was made to “foster economic growth by providing flexibility for owners and operators…while still ensuring the same degree of public health and welfare protection through permitting requirements.” This proposal surfaces during a time in which communities already burdened by industry pollutants are fighting to halt local data center development due to public health concerns.
Prince’s County, MD:
In the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond, community members and grassroots organizations have been pushing back against the rapid approval and construction of data centers. Prince George’s County, Maryland is just one community out of many attempting to fight back against Big Tech’s invasion. Lerner Enterprises, a real estate firm, has proposed a $5 billion, 4 million-square-foot data center complex to be constructed on the site of Prince George’s County’s previously demolished shopping mall. As tensions rise over plans for the data center, community members and advocacy groups have pointed out that these developments may add to the environmental justice burdens that this community already faces.
Over 90% of Prince George’s County residents are from marginalized communities, with over 60% of community members identifying as Black. Many residents are living in poverty and without healthcare coverage; in fact, Prince George’s County has higher percentages of both subgroups compared to the rest of Maryland. This is a critical detail in future data center development, for researchers at the University of California Riverside predict that, nationwide, data center pollution could lead to 600,000 asthma cases and 1,300 deaths by 2028. So, not only are these data centers placed in communities already burdened by socioeconomic hardship, but are further jeopardizing the physical wellbeing of populations with lower access to affordable healthcare.
While plans for Lerner Enterprise’s data center complex have been halted due to a temporary ban on processing data center permits, residents are still concerned that their environmental justice concerns are not being listened to by county officials. This past March, CEEJH INC and NAACP released a joint report with dozens of contributors called, “The People’s Report,” which countered the County’s Report which failed to take into consideration existing unjust environmental burden. Abre’ Conner, director of the NAACP’s Center for Environmental and Climate Justice, said that “what we are seeing from local elected,and appointed individuals [is] that [they] are going to move forward, despite what community members are saying.” Seeing as residents are already being sidelined for data center development, Trump’s new EPA proposition will only create more barriers for communities, like Prince George’s County, to push back against industrial expansion in vulnerable areas as protections are weakened.
Memphis, TN:
The rapid expansion of data centers has not only presented environmental justice concerns in the Mid-Atlantic region, but across the nation. The historic Boxtown Neighborhood of Memphis,Tennessee has become an unwelcome home for Elon Musk’s xAI supercomputer, Colossus, the “computing power” behind his X (formerly Twitter) chatbot, Grok. Similar to Prince George’s County, Boxtown is a historically Black, formerly enslaved freedman’s community with significant disinvestment. The community has been a previous target for industrial mega-polluters, from the opposition of the Byhalia Pipeline being run directly through this community that stood to pollute the Memphis sand aquifer, potentially compromising the drinking water for the entire city of Memphis, to the now-retired Allen Fossil Plant. Activities from the plant left behind pits of toxic coal ash that the Tennessee Valley Authority only recently began removing in 2021. Other polluting businesses, such as the Valero Memphis Oil Refinery (located right next to one of the neighborhood’s public parks), remain in operation in Boxtown. CEEJH INC Executive Director, Dr. Sacoby Wilson, explains that the unincorporated structure of the Boxton community leaves it vulnerable, “when a community is unincorporated, it becomes an easy target—no town council. No mayor. No voice. Once you get one hazard, you get two. Once you get two, you get three. That’s the math.” Now, residents are subjected to another hazard, the noxious air pollution released by xAI’s unpermitted fossil gas-powered turbines.
The legacy of industrial pollution in Boxtown has had detrimental impacts on the health of local residents. Research indicates that the Southwest Memphis region has a cumulative cancer rate that is four times higher than the national average. As recently as 2024, the American Lung Association gave Shelby County an “F” in terms of ozone pollution. Other respected health organizations have recognized Memphis’ vulnerability to health complications including the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America which, in 2024, ranked Memphis the 15th most challenging place to live with asthma. Like Prince George’s County, Maryland Big Tech continues to target communities who have already been victim to industrial pollution to further, controversial development.
During early conversations regarding xAI Boxtown developments, residents attested to the shocking level of disengagement from xAI officials, leaving the Greater Memphis Chamber to defend the company’s plans to worried community members. While the City has allowed commentary at Board of Commissioners’ meetings and hosted an xAI “fireside chat” to alleviate community concerns regarding the supercomputer. At no point did any xAI officials attend these gatherings–Boxtown residents still have failed to contact anyone working directly for Musk’s company. The outrageous lack of transparency from xAI to Boxtown residents may be an ominous preview of what data center development may look like if Trump’s new EPA proposal gains approval. With less regulations and quicker approval of center construction, vulnerable communities will be further left in the dark in terms of local data center development and its associated public health impacts.
Charles County, MD:
Despite communities’ struggles to halt local data center expansion, not all hope is lost. In Charles County, Maryland, residents banded together to convince the Charles County Planning Commission to unanimously vote against recommending a revised data center zoning amendment as written to the Board of County Commissioners. This is the second time the Planning Commission has voted against approving Zoning Text Amendment No. 25-187 which would facilitate data center expansion within the county. At their most recent meeting on June 1st, 2026, the commission heard over three hours of public testimony expressing their concerns over utility costs, wildlife impacts, noise pollution, and more as a result of local data center development. At one point during public comments, the audience erupted into chants of “no data centers” as their fellow residents defended their communities becoming a data playground for Big Tech.
At the meeting’s conclusion, Charles County Commission’s Vice Chair, Jefferey Gossart, moved to recommend a denial of ZTA 25-187, reflective of community comments on size limitations, environmental socioeconomic studies, and an adjustment of setback and noise restrictions. While this decision is simply a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners, who have the final authority on the amendment, Charles County serves as an example of what these approval processes can look like when constituents are listened to by local officials. Trump’s new EPA proposal would only make similar forms of community resistance more complex; officials may have a harder time pushing back against data center development if significant construction has already begun (and money has already been invested) on these massive projects.
In Summary:
This latest proposal is a continued attack on Black and Brown communities in the US. This proposal would set back decades of progress made under the Clean Air Act; progress that is essential to Black and Brown communities who are disproportionately harmed by industrial air pollutants time and time again. A perpetuation of environmental slavery in the United States. Dr. Wilson explains this “EPA is moving us backwards. Making America great again has become making America polluted again.” Data centers represent a digital sacrifice zone, sacrificing the health and wellbeing of Black and Brown communities for so-called “technological progress.” Technological progress that our communities do not stand to benefit from and even further harmed by as data centers accelerate surveillance technology used against our already overpoliced neighborhoods. To fight back, we must organize together and organize our money, demanding a halt to data centers and regulation.
